The Mercy of Fortune
by nyxie9
Summary: When a man is prey to his emotions, he is not his own master, but lies at the mercy of fortune. Dean and Sam take on a case with an hunter who is too close to their family for comfort. Begins early in the first season. OFC
1. Chapter 1

The Mercy of Fortune

Summary: The Winchesters meet up with a fellow hunter who comes bearing some interesting parts of their past. Takes place after Bloody Mary but will be AU. This story makes more sense, the more you read.

Disclaimer: So yeah, all I own is Mavis. Feel free to let me know how I'm doing!

* * *

Chapter 1

The hair on the back of his neck stood on end almost the moment he entered the bar. The feeling that someone was watching him was almost second nature. It kicked in as natural as breathing. And he knew he was being watched right then.

Hazel eyes swept the bar inconspicuously, hoping that the subject would stand out but of course, his luck did not run that way. That feeling of being watched was not a new one. The past several weeks in fact, he'd felt like someone was watching him, just out of eyeshot.

She was pretty, pretty as ever and the last person he had expected to see. Ever again. Mae's pale skin held a touch of pink in the cheeks. Her red hair pulled back into a braid. Those blue grey eyes, too big for a hunter locked right on his. Her pleasant face was angular, jaw framing a wide mouth. Nice lips, she always had nice lips.

'What the hell?' he thought. Mae… no, Mavis he corrected, was not the sort of girl you thought about like that. It was just so wrong to find her… attractive. So, she wasn't unattractive. He wanted her to be, it was only fair. The woman should have at least been plain or awkward. With a name like that, she had no right being as pretty as she was.

She had no right pulling at emotions with that secret smile as she looked straight at him. Years of joys and pains flooded him and he pushed them down with a bitter grin. That enigmatic smile widened as she offered him a mock toast with her beer. She leaned back to prop her impossibly long legs on the other chair at her table. It wasn't exactly an invitation but she had to know that he wasn't going to walk away from this.

"You have to do better than that Mavis."

He muttered to himself as he got and paid for his beer. Okay, so she was a good-looking girl. Not the type he'd go for on a normal day, he told himself, but maybe that was just because he knew her. History said otherwise on both counts. Still, long red hair and a tall, lean body that she's sculpted over the years with the rigors of hunting had its appeals. She was good with a gun, a knife, a bow … whatever weapon was put in her hands. Somehow, that made this reunion all the worse.

Her gaze focused only on him, so intense that he that thought maybe she could see through him. Time to bite the bullet, Dean thought as he took a sip of beer. Wandering over to her, he looked casual as could be in distressed jeans and a tight black shirt that didn't accurately portray the body he had. Mae shunned herself. This was business and had little, if anything, to do with the past.

That smile was so hopelessly smug that hers wavered just a bit. She wanted to knock it off his face. Instead, she took another drink. "I guess you're the one who's been following me."

She nodded, winked and took another pull on her beer. "Took you long enough, Skippy. Must be gettin' soft."

Her crimson eyebrow quirked with the challenge. He only yanked the chair her feet had been resting on, taking his seat.

Her boots hit the floor with a resolute thud but Mae didn't seem to mind as much as Dean wanted. "Where's Sam?"

How the hell did she know he'd picked up Sam? As far as she should have known, Sam was happily grinding away back at college, happy to be done with hunting and his family. Then again, she knew where to find him and clearly, she had been following them.

"Sam?" Dean asked.

"Yeah Sam. You know, unusually tall guy, floppy girl hair, possibly your brother? Sam."

It was almost hard not to tease him. It made things worse, she knew. If possible, his eyes got greener as she took the first swipe. "I know who Sam is."

"Way to go, champ. You might just get a gold star."

Dean wasn't sure what he wanted to do to her as she so easily annoyed him, it was best not to think about it. Focus, he reminded himself. "Do you ever shut up?"

Those lips curved more. Her smile was perpetual but hollow. "I haven't even started."

Fighting with her came just as easy as more pleasurable activities had. "Let's not and say we did."

Their verbal jabs came fast but he would have much rather just knocked her on her ass. "Oh Dean, I expect so much more from you. You lost your game face."

"What are you doing here?"

She spread her hands wide before placing them behind her head. "It's a free country, for the time being. Don't think you're the only one who frequents these sorts of places."

He looked her up and down. "That's not a surprise."

"Hmm… the only problem is, I'm a little sharper than to fall for a free drink and a line about oh let me guess… you're a photographer looking for model? No, no you're not clever enough for that. Or maybe the suspicious burn during urination is enough of a reminder of whatever po dunk town you dip your wick in."

Mae's smile was slow but wide and he realized while there might have been mirth from any other person saying something like that, she was playing a little game. She was toying with him. Again. And possibly trying to see if he had truly gone soft. Hunting could change a person a lot. "You suck." He said.

"Sure but never on a first date."

A smirk touched his face, despite all his control. He offered back a half hearted 'Prude.'

"So really where's Sam?"

Mae propped her folded arms on the table and offered him the first real smile of the evening, the kind that reached her stone blue eyes. She would try her best to be genial. There was no point in making an awkward situation worse, she told herself. She had agreed to this. She could stay or leave at her own discursion. Not that leaving was an option for her. "Back at the room." Dean said, drawing her back to the conversation.

"Oh, okay." A frown pulled at the edges of his mouth.

"What? You disappointed it's just me?"

With a shrug, she tipped back the rest of her beer, playing with the now empty bottle a moment. "I've certainly been more excited to see…well, almost one. Besides, it's been a while since I've seen Sam. And this can't be easy for him. How's he doin'?"

"How do you think?" He hadn't meant it to come out so harshly but Mae wasn't exactly in the position to jump back into their lives, his life. Another shrug pulled at her slim shoulders.

"Don't know. Never lost someone like that. Listen, I'm just tryin' to… make nice."

Dean clucked his tongue. "Sweetheart, I got plenty of nice. What I wanna know is what you're doin' here?"

Hand parted in surrender and innocence. "Girl can't go to a bar now, have a drink?"

His laugh was skeptical as he took another drink. "You don't just show up places Mae. In all the time I've known you, you've never been the type to hang out in a bar for a hook up or just to hang out. So why are you here?"

She bristled against his tone. "Same reason you're here I guess."

"And that is?"

A chuckle radiated in the back of her throat before she leaned in closer. To an outsider it might even look intimate but he knew she was bracing for a fight. "Shouldn't you know?"

Truth be told, they did not have a clear reason there were here. Not yet anyway. Sam had found some strange reports of several deaths that did not seem to be normal but they would look into it in the morning. For now, they needed the rest. Did Mae have some inside information or lead? How badly did he want to get to the bottom of this? Right now, not bad enough to work the same case with Mavis.

At his lack of reply, she huffed. "This has been fun an' all but I think I've had just about enough."

Mae had concluded that she didn't want to work with him a fraction before he could state the same though and she stood, pulling her batter suede coat off the back of the chair but not bothering to put it on. She was going to need more patience than she thought she could ever have if she was going to honor this particular request.

Dean Winchester could annoy her faster than any other person, over the smallest things too. It wasn't even annoyance so much right then. The boys didn't know what they were hunting. That much was clear. The man was an excellent liar but more often than not, she could still call his bluff. Not that it mattered if they knew or not.

Mae had simply decided not to take a back seat on this thing. Following them around, keeping out of sight just wasn't her style. She wasn't poaching their case, she just happened to be working on the same one at the same time.

The rather swift footfalls behind her told her that someone, likely Dean had followed her out of the bar. She didn't look back working on this assumption. If it were some barfly, she wasn't worried; she could drop him in a matter of seconds. Affirming if it was Dean or not wasn't something she wanted to explore. Mae couldn't tell if she wanted it to be him more than she wanted it to be someone else. The exclamation from behind her when she reached her car told her.

"Oh sweet jumpin' Jesus."

Dean was in love, in lust. It just wasn't fair. Crossing the distance between he took in the beauty of the automobile. Hating Mae would have been simple if he didn't actually like her so much. And that car, that car did not help his fondness for her. "C'mon."

He muttered to himself, running a hand over the slick finish of the classic car.

"What?" Mae asked with a simper on her lips.

"1968 Mustang 390 Fastback. How awesome is that? Mae, this is just, it's… a thing of beauty."

Her smile grew but she shrugged, worrying her keys in her hand. "Like Steve McQueen."

Dean's smile got bigger. He knew how to pick 'em, he thought as his eyes left the car and met the girl. "Highland green and all. I think I'm in love."

"Watch the drool, Deany boy. I just had her washed"

"You gotta let me drive 'er."

A bark of laughter brought his eagerness right to a halt. "You're outta your ever lovin' mind man."

"Mae. C'mon."

Her eyebrow turned in a disbelieving arch. "Mae, c'mon is not a valid argument. Besides, a few minutes ago you told me you had enough nice."

He opened his mouth to say something but he couldn't find the words. Mae beat him to it once again. "Well, _sweetheart_, you won't have to worry about what I'm doin' here because I'm leaving."

With mixed emotions, he watched the redhead get in her car and back out of the parking space. He would miss her and he would particularly miss that beauty of a car as he watched her drive off, toward the highway. Fuck, he thought, he did not need to have her show up in his life again.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Chapter 2**

Title: The Mercy of Fortune

Summary: Mae and the Winchesters start their investigation.

Disclaimer: All I own is Mavis

* * *

Chapter 2

With a yawn, Mavis stretched her arms over her head. It was too late for a sane woman to be up, let alone going through the gory details of these deaths. It was always worse when it was kids and that was something she would never get comfortable. Sure, digging up corpses had become commonplace but knowing that kids were being hunted would always bother her.

At least she was a little closer to stopping it. For now, looking at the clock, she decided she should catch a few hours of sleep. She could be good to go after she had an hour or two under her belt. Mae frowned. She had intended to stay in the same motel as the boys but her damn pride meant she was on the other side of small town.

It made it harder to follow them. She could only hope the duende theory she had in her mind was more than what Sam and Dean had. At least then, she could be one-step ahead of them. If Dean thought she had taken off, that would give her a leg up too.

Shutting down her computer, Mae got ready for bed. She set her alarm for five and stripped out of her jeans and tank top to sleep in her underwear. It had been sometime since she'd missed having a real bed of her own but for some reason it struck her that night. A terrible homesick feeling made her want to curl up in her own warm bed with her own soft, familiar linins. She pushed it aside because it would be another line of motel beds in her future.

* * *

Thoughts of Mae kept satisfying sleep just out of reach for Dean. She would show up in his dreams and when he was awake, she took solid root there too. He had hoped he might get lucky that night but seeing the redhead again seemed to count as just the opposite.

There were too many wrong turns over the time he had known her to figure out where things went wrong. When exactly had they gone from being friends to being… whatever they were now? When had he really lost her? It wasn't when she left. It wasn't even after she had come back.

And at some point the way she looked at him change. He stopped being a hero and a protector and became what she saw now. Mae had never said these things to him but he knew it was there. Maybe she had just seen what had always been there. It didn't really matter. There was no going back, no fixing the things they had done to each other.

The fact brief appearance in his life had meant more than the 10 minutes they had spent together that evening made any impact on him was not lost on him. Now was not the time to lose his objectivity or be caught up in another life.

* * *

"Damnit!"

He took out his anger on the roof of his car with a fist. Not that he would admit it but it hurt more than he wanted. It solved nothing. Mae had still scooped them. First, he'd let himself believe that she would just turn a job over to them and leave. Second, he assumed that she would have told him anything about this.

He could have sworn she winked at him before she got in her car. "I'm really starting to hate that woman."

He had no doubt that Mae had already questioned the victim's parents and not knowing the guise she'd used, Dean was reluctant to make the people go over the story again. Besides, he was more focused on Mae right then and what the hell she was up to.

"C'mon." He said to Sam as he got back in the car.

"What's going on? Who's that?"

His brother wasn't exactly making sense. Why were they leaving? Didn't they have a job to do? Was Dean really going to chase after that woman rather than work? Who was she anyway? His brother cast him a strange glance as if he could not understand why he wasn't tracking his train of thought. "Dude, you don't recognize her?"

Sam tried to think, did he recognize her? Who would he and Dean both know? He was beginning to suspect that the redhead was not just some tail his brother was after. "The woman I saw from across the street for like 5 seconds? No. You do?"

"It's Mavis."

"Mavis? Mavis Singer?"

"How many women named Mavis do you know?"

Okay yeah, Mavis wasn't a particularly popular name but how was he supposed to recognize a woman he hadn't seen in over, what 6 years? It wasn't as if he and Mae stayed pen pals when she'd left. The woman might have held a passing resemblance to the girl they knew all those years ago. It couldn't be Mae, it was just too strange.

"What's Mae doing here?" Sam asked.

"Well," Dean said starting up the car, "I guess we're gonna find out."

* * *

It annoyed him that she was waiting for them. Mae wasn't hard to spot, even without the iconic car. She looked surprisingly prim with her neat tidy bun and charcoal grey suit. Even without whatever fake id Dean knew she had on her, she looked like an FBI agent or whoever she had pretended to be. There was no doubt she could easily slide into that roll as easy as any other was. "Good to see you Sam."

She offered hello in that all too cheery tone as the two joined her at the table. Sam smiled; sitting across from her while Dean sat next to her in the booth, trapping her. He did not intend to let her leave until he had his answers. "Dean."

That smooth voice was still cheerful but held something cutting as her eyes slid over to him.

"Good to see you too, Mae. I thought Dean was crazy when he thought he saw you at that house."

Her smiled didn't move but her eyes weighed heavily on Dean. She didn't say anything but the short haired man shifted under her sideways gaze. "Don't count crazy out but it _was_ me. I think I've figured out what this thing is."

Mae said, leaning in a conspiring manner, lowering her voice so as not to draw attention.

Dean snorted is disbelief. "You figured it out? Last night you didn't even know there was a job here."

A few moments ago, he was worried that the redhead was going to give away the secret that he'd already known she was in town. Then he went and shoved his foot in his mouth.

"Last night?" His brother questioned.

"Deano and I ran into each other last night."

Sam's eyes shifted to his brother yet Dean's face remained neutral. "He didn't mention anything."

"Well," Mae shrugged, "It wasn't a big deal."

There was a certain animosity between the tow but Sam couldn't tell if it was over something that happened the previous night or not.

"As I recall you were going to head out of town."

Those hazel eyes of Dean's had moved to stare her down intently as he spoke. "I decided there was something here and you might need a hand."

That all too familiar twist of annoyance started in her gut again. Mae could be patient but all of that disappeared around Dean and she had a feeling the same thing happened to him. It was like a chemical reaction to each other. "We don't need your help."

At least he was sure on that much. They weren't green hunters and in the few months he'd been hunting with his brother again, they'd only gotten better. Sam attempted to defuse again. "Dean—"

"No Sam, it's alright. Dean probably has this all but wrapped up, right big boy?"

He would have liked to throttle that blasted woman right then and there. "We have some leads." He lied.

"Good. Me too. Maybe we'll meet up on the way."

Mae's face was calm, even her pretty blue eyes didn't show the sparks of competition like Dean's did. That seemed somehow more dangerous.

"Hey wait. Why can't we all work together on this?"

Sam asked, once again having to be the voice of reason and stop whatever pointless argument Dean and Mae were trapped in. "You wanna work with her? Fine, then work with her."

Dean finally turned back to look at his brother, the traitor. Mae caught his arm as he slid away from her. That might have done it, sent him right over the edge if the woman's touch wasn't so light. "Sam's right. I have information you need and I wouldn't say no to a little assistance either. Duendes can be tricky sons of bitches."

As if to stay in character, Dean scoffed. "You need help with a goblin?"

Mae clenched her teeth as Dean sat back down. God, how she hated asking for help, particularly from Dean. It wasn't that he was a bad hunter. In fact, she liked hunting with him. He was just so damn haughty sometimes. Someone owed her big time she thought. "I don't need it but I'd like it."

It was just about as humble as she could get right then. "How can you be so sure this is El duende? It's a little far north isn't it?"

The tables had turned and Mae didn't like being on the defensive or the satisfied little twinkle in Dean's eyes. "Oregon is no San Pedro but stranger things have happened. Besides I found this."

She paused to retrieve the camera from her messenger bag. Tuning it on, she scrolled through the pictures until she found the right one. It was petty but she felt that twist of annoyance dull a bit at Dean's irritated puff of breath when she passed the device to his brother first, despite his best efforts to catch a view of the photo over her shoulder. "Um… what it is?"

Sam asked as he rotated the camera to perhaps discover what she thought was cold, hard proof.

"It's red clay." Mae said, as if that explained it all.

"Red clay?" Sam questioned skeptically.

"The way the lore goes, when a duende falls asleep, he turns to red clay. They're also purported to live in the walls of kids' rooms."

Sam passed the camera to his brother but his eyes were on Mae. Dean watched her face morph with admiration. "Very good, Sparky. I'm actually impressed."

"Yeah, you know I actually know what I'm doing here Mae."

"I never said you didn't. So you run up against one before?"

Genuine interest colored her tone now as she shifted into business mode and Dean went with it. It was almost bizarre to Sam watching the two. You could go insane, he thought, tracking what exactly was going on with them. "No, we thought it was one once but it turned out to be a different flavor of goblin."

Her eyebrow arched with amusement. "Mmm… goblin flavor? That sounds less than appetizing."

Dean had to laugh; sometimes he liked her too much for his own good. "Just to be sure, we should check at the other houses. We also need to narrow down the area where this thing's lair is otherwise, we'll just be spinning our wheels searching miles and miles of forest."

"So where do we start, sweetheart?"


	3. Chapter 3

Title: The Mercy of Fortune

Summary: The brother's and Mae start digging for answers and mostly end up arguing.

Disclaimer: All I own is Mavis

Chapter 3

* * *

She was professional to say the least. At least for the profession she was portraying currently. Mavis acted very much the special agent. So much so that if he didn't know her, Sam would have pegged her for FBI or law enforcement at least. It suited her much better than it did his brother or himself.

Mae kept and oddly calming face, a relaxed but firmed visage. Those big eyes however, they were the thing that made Sam think she wasn't FBI. They also seemed to hold some sort of power that made even miserable people feel more at ease. Just like it had for the first two sets of parents they had visited and this one last on the list.

Sam didn't need to be the one who got people to open up. It was sort of fun not being 'good cop' for once. Not that the situation called for 'bad cop'. And he suspected that even if it did, Mae would do it better. In fact, she might not be pulling off that much of an act. As kind as her face with its sharp cheekbones was, she wasn't all that sweet and tender.

But real or fake, their sensitivity was the right angle for a grieving mother. Much better than Dean's which always somehow seemed artificial. It wasn't that his brother was unsympathetic, he was, he just didn't have a way with emotions. Mae on the other hand guided the mother through the fear and sadness to the answers they needed without even betraying that they were looking for a monster. It would have been weird to see her act otherwise.

Even as kids Mae had been able to hide her motives, make people believe what she wanted them to believe. It had always been kind of fun to watch. Back when they had been partners in crime, Mae had been able to get his tough as nails father to give in to her requests. Dean claimed he had a puppy dog look. Well, he'd learned it from Mae. But, as she claimed, she only used her power for good. Mostly.

He had to hide a smile as he thought back on the past. There had been some fun times occasionally, particularly when he and Mae would conspire on something. Even with the trouble they could have gotten into, she was level headed, despite all the similarities she shared with his brother.

"Ma'am, any details you might have for us about where Anne-Marie or any of the children in the neighborhood might have been playing or exploring would be extremely helpful. Any… local legends that might attract young children?"

There it was. Sam had marveled the first time, watching her work but now was back mostly because he knew she didn't need him to jump in. The mother sniffed and Mae offered a kind smile along with a tissue. "Take your time, ma'am."

It hadn't been particularly informative. And they didn't exactly have new information. Every town had its 'local legends' that weren't always founded in the supernatural. A strange old woman became a witch and a dark old forest hid a multitude of stories. Nothing that suggested the duende. But all the kids had been playing in or around the woods. Sam glanced at his watch, knowing Dean was probably crawling out of his skin but gave the man credit for not calling him every 5 minutes to check on them. Mae let out a tiny puff of breath as they got back to her car.

"We're gonna need a map." She said, resting her arms on the roof a moment.

Sam gave a little laugh. "I think we have one back at the motel."

"No I mean a topographic map. We have to get a better idea of the terrain."

"Uh, why?"

"Because, we're going to have to search the woods. We know what we're looking for, we need to know where and what to expect."

"The woods?" Sam's face was more than skeptical as if she had told a joke he couldn't quite believe. "Mae, this whole place is woods."

"I read the tourism brochures too. Doesn't change the fact that it's where we need to go. Unless you've got a better idea."

And Sam's face scrunched with thought, eyes darting a moment. Finally, he relented. "We're gonna need a map."

* * *

The television was on but Dean wasn't watching it. He was spending the majority of his time shifting his impatience between his unmoving cell phone and the passing minutes of his wristwatch. Mae and Sam should have been back by now. Canvassing the victim's families never took this long when he and Sammy worked a case, right? Mae should have gone to the morgue; she was the one with a medical background. But he wasn't about to let her know something he didn't.

Knowing Mae, she war probably sitting on the hood of his car, waiting for him to find her smirking with that smug smile on her face. Bitch. He got up and paced. Well, little Miss Smart Ass had another thing coming. He would not give her the satisfaction of allowing her to think he was anxious. Or perturbed. Or even remotely interested in her. Not that he wanted to be with her. Sam went with her because he also knew he couldn't be civil with her alone for that long.

God, he wanted to be with her. It was madness, shear madness. He was some kind of masochist wanting to spend any amount of time with a woman who drove him to the edge of insanity. It had only been what, two days? After three years and a whole hell of a lot of unexpressed anger, she was back. For two days. He would have rather had someone file down his teeth than think about her.

Mavis Singer had occupied a large part of his life once and he had assumed she would always be around. When she left the first time, he understood. When she came back the first time, his heart had soared. When she left the second time… well he would have run her out of town if she hadn't gone on her own. That in-between time, less than the time they'd spent together now had brought that sharp blade of reality harshly against his throat.

Dean closed his eyes. He was _not_ going to rethink this whole thing. He was going to stay angry with her. He was going to spend his time thinking about how she was screwing up the case or how he would work it better. He could almost keep his brain quiet with those lies. So despite the veritable tornado of memories and feelings in his mind, he wouldn't show it to her. He wouldn't let her know that his thoughts of her wove back and forth like a drunk driver through his mind. Loving her, hating her all mainly left him with an uncomfortable dissatisfying ball in the pit of his stomach.

A sharp sigh escaped his lips as he heard the distinctly metallic clang of a car door followed closely by another. Finally! They took their sweet ass time. "So…?"

He almost jumped down Sammy's throat the moment his little brother opened the door. Dean wan anxious but only because he had to sit and hang back. His part of the job hadn't taken long. The remains that had been found weren't many but all of the kids had been missing toes. And that leant more than enough credence to Mae's theory. He had wanted her to be wrong out of pride. Although, part of him had to admit she had concluded before he had, even before Sam had. "What did you find?"

"Aside from more of those weird looking mud people imprints? Not much. Mae has a theory."

"Of course she does. She's a fuckin' answer key." Dean scoffed at the notion of the redhead's superior hunting skills.

"Dude what is it with you and her?"

She wasn't even in the room this time and his brother had already ramped up the antagonism... or whatever it was. "Nothing alright? Just… drop it."

"Yeah sure but if you one of you ends up killing, I am not helping get rid of the body."

Dean flashed that enigmatic wide smile of his. "Sure you will."

Sam lifted one shoulder in a half shrug. He probably would in the extremely unlikely chance, that it happened, which it wouldn't but he like both of them and didn't feel the need to bring the cops down on them because his brother and Mae were idiots. "Where is Mae?"

Sam cast a glance over his shoulder towards the green mustang. Mae was buried in the hatch, her long legs the only partially visible part. "She's bringing in supplies."

Dean leaned to the side as if he might be able to catch a view of her. His hazel green eyes snapped back to his younger brother. "You didn't offer to help?"

It was a strange question coming from the man had spoke with bile about the woman just breaths before. "Yeah, I did. She smacked me and told me to see if you need to be changed by now."

Sam didn't mind annoying his brother just a bit with the woman's words. "Dude… I hate that woman. I don't know what I could have possibly done to deserve having her around again."

He paced away from his brother and the door, wondering again what the hell was taking Mae so long. "Want me to make a list?"

Oh, Dean was going to smack Sam for that. "What you're on her side now?"

"There are no sides here Dean. If you haven't noticed, Mae's just trying to work this case. You're the one who keeps flying off the handle."

Genuine surprise colored his features and he paced back to Sam. "Me? She does it too. You have a thing for her Sammy? That why you can't see just how annoying she is?"

The elder Winchester was swinging wild and Sam knew he should calm him down before Mae did come to the room. "No! It's clear to me now that you're both crazy and if you don't kill each other, I just might. I don't get why you can't just accept her help."

"We don't need her help." Dean sulked but Sam wasn't about to point that out.

"Maybe we don't but with it, we got to an explanation pretty quick and I don't know about you but I like that she looks convincing. I enjoy not getting weird looks from people when we go out. She lends credibility to this whole thing."

Dean hit back with his least childish argument, he would claim. "She does not. Why exactly are you so buddy buddy with the enemy now Sammy?"

"For the last time, Mae isn't the enemy. She's another hunter. Now I don't know what happened between you two while I was off a school but she seems willing to let it go, why can't you?"

Maybe he would give him some explanation about what had changed between the two of them. It wasn't just his imagination playing tricks on him when he thought back. Mae and Dean didn't just act alike; they were two halves of the same whole. "You… you have no idea what happened okay? So don't act like you know because whatever you've worked out, I promise you it isn't what's happened."

He raked a hand through his hair. There was no way he was going to get in to this, particularly with his brother. "Whatever I worked out? What does that mean?"

"You think I slept with her and then… treated her like all the rest?"

Sam didn't want to say it aloud but that was what he assumed happened. So he only shrugged his agreement. "Well it's not what happened at all."

"So then—"

Whatever Sam was going to say was cut short by the clank of the trunk shutting. The taller Winchester tucked into the room, making way for Mae.

"What the hell is that?"

All of Dean's attention was on the willowy redhead as she dropped the heavy looking duffle bag beside the table. "It's good to see you too Sparky."

Her reply didn't do anything to assuage what she would call his 'cross armed pissiness'. A soft huff preceded her answer. "Supplies." Mae's tone was crisp, just this side of standoffish.

Sam recognized it as her 'working' tone, the one she used with a certain air of authority. The younger brother assumed that under other circumstances, namely the absence of Dean, her back might not have been so stiff and her face might not have been so tight. They hadn't spent a great deal of time together but she wore her issues with Dean on her sleeve.

She crouched, unzipping a side pocket of the bag and retrieving the map and some markers along with her trusty notebook. Setting them on the table, she straightened.

"Supplies?" Dean asked with a sarcastic laugh. "What, are you moving in here?"

Her eyebrow arched as her eyes passed around the motel room. "Here? I have a little more class than that."

That was it. Dean snapped. "Class? You? Lemme tell you something about class little miss--"

"It's for the hunt."

Sam interrupted, stationing himself between the pair. They definitely needed to kill something and he was just hoping it turned out to be the goblin rather than him or each other. "The hunt? You mean you two geniuses figured out where this thing is?"


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Chapter 4**

The Mercy of Fortune

Summary: The Winchesters meet up with a fellow hunter who comes bearing some interesting parts of their past. Takes place mid season one but will be AU.

Disclaimer: I just own Mae all the rest I'm borrowing. Feel free to let me know how I'm doing!

Chapter 4

* * *

Mae's notes were detailed. At least he thought they were. Everything was coded in strange scrawling shorthand he couldn't decipher. Dean watched as she diligently transferred the data that she had collected of the past two days to the map. Points of the attacks were in one color, the houses in another, the places the bodies and/or parts had been found in yet another and lines that connected them. One highlighted circle encompassed all that data.

Mae was in the process of narrowing that down based on the area most likely to contain caves. Watching her work was compelling. Dean had to admit he was intrigued. Her professionalism was clear and something one might call pride washed his system. Pride and a more than a little arousal were in the mix as well.

The clearing of his throat brought Mae's attention to him. Question was etched on hers but she shuffled it back when she saw the same thing on his face. "Uh, duendes typically hold up in caves. So, I've tried to narrow the search area down geographically but it's still more miles than the three of us can cover in a practical span of time."

She sighed and Dean saw the first sign of frustration with this case as she raked a hand through her hair before yanking it up and pinning it back in place. He hid his smile. "Frankly," She continued, "I don't understand how this thing moves."

That smile finally curved at his lips and that caused her to frown.

"What?" Defensiveness washed over her at the quirk of his lips. "You're glad about that?"

"Whoa, hey… no. You were just… you think out loud. It's kinda cute."

"Cute?" Her face turned up in something akin to disgust but then her features mellowed after a moment. "Whatever Dean."

A sigh passed out of her body, making the tension she held less formidable. "Maybe you could take a look?"

"Yeah, sure. Anything."

Dean hoped his face didn't show the surprise he felt at her request. A quick swipe of his hand over his mouth was a vain attempt to hide it as he moved to her side of the table. Taking an analytical look at the map, he leaned over it framing the paper between his hands. Hazel eyes roamed over the area. Her markings were less confusing from this angle than he assumed they would be. But his thoughts turned right back to the woman standing suddenly all too close to him. There had been something in her tone when she asked for help. It wasn't reluctance which given their interactions he thought that if she could even bring herself to ask for his help it would be full of unwillingness. There might have been respect. Well, he didn't _not_ respect her. Okay, he could say it or rather think it, he did respect her. At least in this regard. No, he wasn't going to think about that now. He pushed it down as he cleared his throat again. "So explain to me what's going on."

His fingers tapped on the well-worn notebook of hers. Mae leaned in, one arm sliding under his to touch on one of the little red dots and the other hand tapped on a scribble in the notebook. "Okay. This one is the most recent abduction site,"

That slender finger slid down one of the blue lines until she reached the green dot. "This is where the little girl lived."

Her hand on the notebook traveled to the scribbles just below that.

"Why do you take notes like that?" He finally asked.

"No one else can read them."

"Yeah I noticed." At the eyebrow raise, he offered Mae only shrugged.

"I'm not used to working with other people so I've never needed… I mean, c'mon the whole 'psychopath murder wall' thing that we do is bad enough for someone to find. The notes don't look better. Besides, you think I'm crazier with it so maybe I could get out of something with a plea of insanity."

Dean would give her that one. A hunter's notebook could be a godsend but it never looked good to authority types. Dean looked at the papers on the table in front of him but his eyes were on the girl. Her hair was pulled up in a messy bun but red tendrils reached down to stroke her cheeks. She really was pretty, try as he might to deny that he still saw it. Any other woman who looked like her, with a wicked streak like hers, he would try to bed her in heartbeat. However, the thought of screwing her left him cold. Or rather, it left him conflicted because he wanted more. He wanted an answer but now wasn't the time to ask those particular questions. He would ask the ones he was willing to deal with instead.

"How did you know about Sam's girlfriend?" Dean asked her. Or rather accused her.

His hazel green eyes narrowed and he stood there with a defiant bent to his posture. Mae looked up from her work. Dean had expected some sort of expression but her blue eyes were flat and her face impartial. She took his look in. That steely stare and cross-armed determination might have served as intimidating for most. But for her, whenever he did that all Mae could see was that awkward boy who trying to be suave attempted to give her a first kiss and ended up sticking his tongue in her eye. Right now, though she didn't see the awkward boy. She saw the man who was trying to protect his brother. "Word gets around."

"Word gets around?" He repeated, amazed that she would try to use such an evasive and ridiculous excuse. "Word gets around?"

Again he said it, just to be sure there wasn't something hidden in those three little words. "Mae, word doesn't get around okay? How the hell did you know about Jess?"

Dean's tone was low and smooth, very controlled. There was a threat laying somewhere in his words, of what she couldn't be sure. Mae knew she was walking a dangerous line with him, between truth and trust. She didn't know what he might do if she crossed it. She had made other promises, ones she didn't think she could break. Somewhat reluctantly, she replied. "I kept tabs on you and your brother. Okay?"

That was not the answer he was expecting. Check that, he didn't know what he was expecting. He had wanted an honest answer. Looking at her pleasant face now, he knew she wasn't lying. There was just a hint of embarrassment on her cheeks. "You kept tabs?"

Exasperation was quickly over taking her pledge to remain neutral. "Are you gonna repeat everything I say here?"

That was intriguing. "Why would you keep tabs on us?"

"Figure it out, Sparky."

Anger was better to go with right now, not only did make it easier to put the blame back on him but he would be expecting it. Prior to a few weeks ago, she had decided, for the last time, that she was done with the Winchesters. That just wasn't meant to be. Now they were hunting down a goblin together. It was small potatoes but it was a job that needed to be done and it served her purpose. She straightened up and stalked out of the motel room, slamming the door with more force than necessary. Dean sat, considering what she said. Had Mavis really been following what they'd been doing? He wouldn't put it past her but... well he wouldn't have gone looking for her and he had thought the feeling was mutual. "Huh."

He was staring at the door as he muttered the single syllable. The woman was a pain but maybe something had changed. She seemed different somehow. Dean couldn't put his finger on it. He wasn't about to apologize to her for being skeptical. Hell, he still was but that inkling of guilt crept up his spine. It wouldn't do either of them any good. She would get over it. Not wanting to pace and brood over her, he sat down. Still, his thoughts didn't stray far from the redhead. The thought of her checking up on him over the last three years quelled some of his anger regarding the way she'd left. Maybe it was possible Mae cared more than she let on. It made his ego swell just a bit more.

At that moment, she wished she still smoked. A cigarette would control her nerves quite nicely. However, it had been years since she smoked, years since she had genuinely wanted to pick the habit up again. Of course, it would be Dean who made her want to start. It wasn't anger that coursed through her veins. It was more like having an itch you knew you couldn't scratch and the more you ignored it, the worse it felt. Dean had reached full body irritation.

It wasn't in his words, not entirely. It was because of the look in his eyes, the way he sat, stood, laughed, all of it. It was all some devious plan, surely it was. So she took a few deep breaths. She was not going to let Dean get to her. More than he already had. Mae scoffed. Even Dean had to know that he annoyed her. She knew she annoyed him. Maybe they should just have sex, she thought.

It wouldn't make anything better but she would certainly enjoy the release. It was entirely possible she could convince him that this was all rooted in a decade of pent up sexual frustration. At least then, the way he got under her skin might not bother her as much. Another sigh left her lips. There was no easy way out of this. Sex would undoubtedly make it worse and double the weirdness. If they could just focus on the case, things would be fine.

Mae returned to the room only after Dean thought he should probably go after her. Any lack of control was gone from her lissome frame and her pale face was passive once again. Taking her seat, she grabbed her notes, double checking that she hadn't miss that one crux that would help unravel the whole case. She couldn't help but wonder where the younger Winchester was or how the hell long it took a grown man to buy food.

As much as she would have rather had Dean go, they would have ended up with beer, chocolate and slim jims; a combination that would likely kill them mid way through the hike. At least Sam had some idea that they might need real food. And perhaps more importantly but more embarrassing, she needed Dean's analytical eyes. He was a damn good strategist and try as she might she couldn't deny he had a skill for pulling off a plan.

Dean once again bent over examining the map. He only glanced up at her before his attention returned to the work before him. "Okay so I looked over Dad's notes and he thinks these things to their hunting pretty far from home."

"So then," Again, she stood and moved to the other side of the table, "maybe we should start here?"

She tapped the map on a rocky area likely to contain caves but far from the major grouping of deaths and kidnappings. Dean nodded before turning his gaze up at her. "Ain't like we got a lot of other ideas."

"I'm good with it. Let's head out first thing then."

Mae was set and despite his protest of whatever ungodly hour 'first thing' meant to her, he was going to be the bigger person and not argue. "Listen about before—"

Mae cut him off. She didn't want to start something else and if they kept talking about anything other than this case, they'd come to blows."It was nothing."

"Okay but I just want to say--" Her eyes were sharper, more dangerous when she looked at him this time.

"Seriously are you girling out on me here? I don't want to talk this out. There's nothing to talk about."

Pressing his lips together, Dean stood to his full height. He would have tried to glare her down if he thought she would do anything but laugh. "Fine, whatever."

"Good. I should get back to my room. Whenever Sam gets back, you should both get some sleep."

He couldn't help himself. "Is that an order, Mavis?"

Her eyebrow quirked but a laugh was just behind those blue grey eyes. "Do whatever you want Dean. I don't care but I'm going full force tomorrow, I'm not gonna let you slack off."

"You know you could stay here."

He wasn't sure why he offered it. He didn't want her to stay with them but for some reason he couldn't stop himself. By the look on her face, Dean could tell she hadn't expected the proposal either. "Uh, yeah. No… even if… no."

Mae's usual quick wit failed her so she scrambled for the words. "All my things are back at the motel. I'm just gonna go back there."

"Yeah good idea."

Mae rolled her eyes and gave him a 'you're crazy' shrug as she picked up her duffle bag, collecting her supplies she needed to take with her. "And I mean early Dean. Tell Sam."


	5. Chapter 5

The Mercy of Fortune- Part 5

Summary: The Winchesters meet up with a fellow hunter who comes bearing some interesting parts of their past. Takes place mid season one but will be AU.

Disclaimer: Some course language ensues. So yeah, all I own is Mavis. Feel free to let me know how I'm doing!

* * *

Sam frowned. Mae was gone when he got back. Her car, which he suspected she picked largely because it would inspire envy in his brother, wasn't in the parking lot either. Her bag was gone. In fact, any trace of her, aside from the marked up map and Dean's scowl, were wiped from the dingy room. Sam had to admit, he was a bit disheartened by that. He liked Mae.

His brother sat on the bed, long legs out stretched but crossed at the ankle while he nursed a beer and glared down the TV. Dean hadn't even offered him a look as he set the bags down by the door. Sam gave a soft huff. "Okay out with it."

Sam smacked at one of his brother's boots, knocking them apart. Dean only raised an eyebrow. "Out with what?"

His younger brother's face was pulled into yet another disapproving frown. "You know what I mean. What the hell is the deal with you and Mae?"

"The deal?"

Dean was just being difficult now, Sam determined at his scoff. But the bizarre fight was just too annoying to let it drop. "Yeah, I wanna know how the two of you can go from being friends like you were to you not trusting her at all."

Sam knew there was something just under the cover Dean was trying, and failing to put up. If his brother would just tell him…

Dean sighed. "I trust her. I just don't like her."

There was a strange duality in Dean's statement but it rang true to his brother. True but still pretty crazy. "Dean that doesn't even make sense. Just tell me why you can't get alone with her."

Dean's resolve waivered for a second before he deflected the request again. "You don't want to know."

Sam was slowly moving from annoyed to angry with the way his brother was acting on this one. The handful of years they had spent apart hadn't changed who either of them were deep down but it had accumulated a number of secrets and private histories to which the other wasn't privy. "The hell I don't. We _are_ hunting with her. I need to know if there something up."

"She's not gonna let it get in the way, okay? I know her. Mae's a professional."

There again was Dean's faith that Mae wouldn't let them down. Sam trusted her too, they'd spent too many years together not to. "Okay well what about you?"

"You're saying I'm not?"

If Dean thought he could get out of this by starting a different argument, he was dead wrong. "Dude I'm saying that you're acting weird around her and not because you're figuring out how to sleep with her. She's got you tied up in knots. Why?"

Sam took a seat on the other bed, forearms resting on his knees as he looked at Dean with those puppy dog eyes.

"Dude you are such a girl." Dean chided.

Sam gave him 'that look', disappointment mixed with exasperation and sadness. "C'mon Dean, I'm serious. What happened between you two?"

With a shrug and another sip, Dean passed his brother a look that was supposed to tell him the conversation was over. "Nothing, okay? We got older, she moved on with her life."

"Yeah right. If she'd moved on, she wouldn't still be hunting. Besides, I remember the way things used to be, before she got hurt."

That injury. It wasn't the first time one of them had been hurt, not by a long shot but it had never been that bad. Dean could still see her bright red blood soaking her pink shirt and her pale face taking on that pallid, chalky appearance. "Yeah so do I. She spent every summer with us. She was practically our sister. Then she got hurt."

"She blames you for that?"

Sam's expression turned sympathetic towards his brother. It was clear that Dean took some sort of responsibility for the incident even though no one but the witch they had been hunting had been responsible. "Of course not. It was an accident and she knows that. I mean, she… she shouldn't have been out there. Dad was an idiot for taking her on that hunt but it wasn't anyone's fault."

Dean never spoke ill of their father so it was interesting to hear his brother disagree with the man. "Well that was the last time I saw her… so fill me in on the details. What happened after that?"

Dean sighed. Maybe it would do him good to talk about it to someone. Then again, it affected Sam too. "What did you two…hook up or something?" Sam enquired reluctantly.

He had been wondering for some time and knowing Dean… well it would have been more of a surprise if he hadn't at least tried to have sex with Mae. Even back then she had been pretty, maybe a little too tall and skinny but by the time she had hit her teens she had developed quickly. His brother wouldn't have been the type to ignore her. After all, she was only two years younger than Dean was. She was fair game in his brother's mind.

"Me and Mae having sex was not what screwed things up. Hell… it was..." Dean rubbed the back of his head. He was distinctly uncomfortable with this. There were some things he simply didn't want to confess to his brother. "Sammy, you had to have known Mae and I were messing around back then."

Sam shrugged. "I uh… not really. I guess it makes sense. I didn't really want to think about it."

"Well trust me, _that_, for once, is not what fucked up things. She got hurt and… I don't blame her for leaving. I don't blame her for not wanting to talk to me again because uh… I wasn't exactly the best boyfriend."

"You cheated on her?" The almost pensive look his brother had been wearing was lost when the irritation flared in his hazel eyes.

"No! I just… you know looking back now… I should have done things differently."

"Oh… I would have figured you cheated on her."

Dean frowned but attempted to hide it behind the swig of beer he took. "Dude, do you not remember Mae back then? When I was with her, I was _only_ with her. And she really was… sweet back then. But no, things would have been okay if it was just her getting hurt. Hell, her getting hurt was sort of a good thing, seeing as she didn't die. I thought maybe she would try and live a normal life."

A grin crept on his face, recalling the young woman he once knew. "Like she'd have any of that. A few years later, Dad and I ran into her again. It was great, working with her and I thought that maybe things would… I thought it would be like old times."

There was regret in his words now and something Sam couldn't identify. His brother was more complex than even he gave him credit. "It wasn't?"

"Not by a long shot." Dean was not budging on this one and Sam didn't know how much longer he would let him push. "Maybe you should talk to her now."

Setting his now empty beer bottle on the nightstand, Dean scoffed. "She ain't the talking type. Mae just wants to do this job and get out of here. I'm okay with that."

"Yeah but--"

He held up a hand. The touchy feely moments were over now. Whatever remained between him and Mae wouldn't change. "None of it matters, Sammy. You should just forget about it, okay? She said she would be back in the morning. Get some sleep."

Sam frowned even as his brother turned off the TV and got ready for bed.

* * *

Mae wasn't kidding when she said she would be back early. A pounding on the door woke both the Winchesters. Dean grumbled, turning his face into his pillow and uttering a swear that Sam could not make out. Considering that the knocking was only getting louder, it was only a matter of time before she started shouting. Sam knew it was Mae. Dean probably did as well. No one else would be so loudly disturbing their sleep at 4:30. In the morning.

The younger Winchester couldn't be certain if she was doing it out of dedication or just to piss off Dean. Either way he didn't particularly care to be in the middle. Not that he had been asleep. Shuffling to the door, he hoped that she wouldn't notice. Sam had a suspicion that she knew more about him than she was letting on. On the ride back to the motel, the other day Mae's blue grey eyes would turn on him with that pitying sadness he hated. But she didn't say anything and as soon as that look set in, it was gone.

It could be his imagination. Maybe Mae was just being Mae. There had been a time when they were all friends but Dean and his Dad had screwed that up. So did Mae, he supposed. She was involved in all that too. It was just so hard to not see her as the sweet girl he remember, more of a sister and confidant than anything else

Sam groaned, shuffling towards the door. He yanked it open to find a disturbingly awake Mae. She looked outdoorsy with her red hair pulled up into a high ponytail, kakis, tank top and flannel shirt all topped off with hiking boots. "It's still dark."

She slapped him on the shoulder, discovering that he wasn't wearing a shirt in that move. "Good eye, Stretch. I said morning. This is one of the few things that hunts by day light so we're taking advantage of that."

Mae pushed past the younger Winchester, giving him a once over as he shut the door. Turning back to her, even in the dark he found her frowning. She turned on the lights and clucked her tongue. "Dude I hope that's not what you're wearing. I mean, I've never hiked in my panties but I can't imagine it's awesome."

Sam gave a cursory glance and felt slightly embarrassed to be seen by Mae in just his boxers. Mae walked right on past Sam to kick the corner of Dean's mattress. "Hey!"

She was rewarded with a muffled grunt but he didn't get out of bed. So Mae jumped on the bed. Kneeling now, she leaned over Dean's prone form to whisper something in his ear. Sam didn't know what she said but whatever it was brought Dean jolting up so fast, Mae barely had time to pull back and avoid his head connecting with her face. Sam couldn't recall seeing his brother moving out of bed so fast ever. It had the redhead laughing as she settled into the space Dean vacated. He shot her a scathing look before marching off to the bathroom. Mae stretched out on the bed, turning on the television. But her eyes flicked over to Sam who was still staring at her rather awkwardly.

"How's it hangin' Sammy?"

"It's Sam, Mavis." Mae's expression was neutral but he decided to take a seat on the edge of the bed. "So are you just setting out to piss him off or is does it happen naturally?"

Her eyes fixed forward and her shoulders hitched with a shrug. "A little bit of both."

"What happened between you two, Mae?"

He looked at her with those big soft eyes that she was sure made most girls feel safe and gooey. Of course, she wasn't most girls and once again, she couldn't help but see the scrawny young boy he once was. "What did Dean tell you?"

The woman was unreadable sometimes; her pale face and almost demure features were annoyingly passive. "He didn't tell me anything. I was hoping you'd be more rational."

Now she looked back at him with mirth in her eyes. "Oh College Boy, with all your fancy psychology… well unfortunately for you, I went to college too and I'm not any more rational than Dean. Couldn't you tell?"

There was something about her self-deprecation coupled with that smile, even obscenely early that made him forget about being disturbed from a rare peaceful night. "You're both just gonna keep me in the dark?"

Mae shrugged. "Pretty much. Listen, Sam I'm pretty sure you'd rather not know and maybe Dean and I mess with each other but we'll get the job done when it comes down to it. You know your brother; he's a hunter through and through."

"Yeah, he said the same thing about you."

A peculiar smile crept on her face. "He did?"

"That surprises you?"

The redhead tossed her hair and propped herself up a little more. "Not really. I just figured he would keep it to himself."

The younger man chuckled a little. The two really were similar. That explained why the pair often clashed but also why they got along when they did.

"C'mon, just tell me what happened?"

"Sam, you're a smart guy. You've known Dean your whole life. What do you think happened?"

She was leading him. The way Dean had spoken about her the night before even in the brief details he'd given, their relationship was important to his brother. And that was a rare thing. His brother didn't often let himself care about a woman. He knew Mae was special. "Dean loved you."

That shocked look crossed her face again. "Sam…"

The words didn't come. Whatever the eldest Winchester had told his brother was not the whole story.

"I don't know what he told you but…" She pinched the bridge of her nose. Well, Mae wasn't going to be the one to mess with things. "You're too cute for this job Sam." Mae leaned forward to pinch his cheek. "Downright adorable."

The reaction was instant and a call back to the way things used to be. "Cut it out."

Despite being an adult, finally far taller than the lanky woman, he still batted her hand away.

"Okay, also cute…" She shook her head, smiling. "You haven't really changed."

"I've changed Mae, trust me I have."

"Not in the important ways." Her expression did change now, almost unguarded as she sighed and placed a reassuring hand on his leg. "Listen, I know… I know there aren't any words that won't sound hollow but I'm sorry about your girlfriend."

"How did you know about that?"

Mae shrugged. "Just because… you're still family, even if we haven't… you're still family."

Sam didn't want to talk about it, even with Mae. "It's okay, Mae."

She leaned forward but there wasn't pity or sorrow in her eyes, just sympathy. She pat his leg before withdrawing the hand. "No it's not. I wish I could tell you this wasn't the way to deal with it but… well it wouldn't matter anyway would it? I walked away."

"Yeah… I left too you know."

"It's a strange family where doing something to improve your life is seen so…"

Mae found that she didn't have the words once again but Sam more than knew what she meant.

"Yeah."

It almost felt like old times, as if she was his friend and confidant again. Why couldn't they still have that? Just because Mae and Dean fought didn't mean he couldn't be friends with her. Before he could say something to that idea, she spoke. "This is weird… I think you should put pants on Sam."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Chapter 6**

The Mercy of Fortune

Summary: The Winchesters meet up with a fellow hunter who comes bearing some interesting parts of their past. Takes place mid season one but will be AU.

Disclaimer: Course language because these people swear like sailors. And while not graphic, possible icky factor... but like I said not at all graphic. Oh yeah, and I just own Mavis.

A/N: Okay, this is what I like to call a breadcrumb story so the more you read, the more the beginning makes sense. But as a reward for some inspiring reviews, I've dropped some pretty big crumbs here. Sorry if you don't like Mae much by the end!

Chapter 6

* * *

He knew it was ridiculous but when he saw Mae and Sam sitting on the bed together, his bed, Dean felt the distinct swell of jealousy. Not jealousy, he corrected. It was… well it was something else. Not that he would put it past her. If any of his previous conquests would go and screw his brother, it was Mavis. His jaw clenched but he tried to hide any other sign that he felt anything about the situation. "Shower's all yours Sammy." And the younger Winchester was glad to have it. He wasn't quite comfortable with the two of them in the same room.

While staying might have averted a fight the intense lock of their eyes made it nearly impossible to say. Mae couldn't say how long after the bathroom door shut that she and Dean held their juvenile staring contest. And he had no intention of taking the high road right now. Dean removed and tossed the towel at Mae with a cocky grin on his face. He heard her disgusted sigh and his smirk grew a little more. Getting off the bed, she plucked the towel gingerly from her head.

"Is that the best you got Dean?"

"Sweetheart, you see this and have to wonder?"

God, he was a good-looking man. Not that she would tell him or even indicate that she even remotely noticed. Her steely blue eyes were locked on his, hot and hazel green. She wouldn't let her eyes wander, despite her curiosity. Instead, she moved forward. The only benefit of stepping closer to him was that she couldn't see his entire naked body. Nobody ever said Dean wasn't ballsy, to turn a phrase.

"Well I have firsthand experience and…" She made a disapproving sound with her tongue, "I'm still not impressed, _sweetheart_."

It might have been cliché but Mae was beautiful when she was angry. Her pale flesh flushed pink, eyes wide and dilated. Hell it was practically foreplay. That was not an advantageous avenue to go down, least of all in his current state. He wasn't going to let her win this round. Decided to save face, he turned from her, grabbed his jeans and tugged them on.

With his back turned, Mae took the chance to pinch the bridge of her nose in frustration. This was going to be a long ass hunt if she and Dean couldn't get this petty bickering under control. A normal person would let this go or talk about it. Not that anyone could accuse either of them being normal. When it came to facing their issues, they weren't winning any prizes there either. Her rational mind just went straight into attack mode when she was left with nothing to focus on around Dean.

Her blue grey eyes opened back up to find the man in question with a self-righteous smirk on his face having caught her moment of frustration. Her resolve to let her cogent mind take over dissolved with that cocky look. That smugness could be wiped right of his face with a solid right hook. Of course, that wasn't the solution. No solution came to her so she fell back on an old standard. "That's what you're wearing?"

Dean finished tugging on the last of his over shirts. "Yeah, this is what I'm wearing. Got a problem with that?"

Jeans and biker boots weren't the best of hiking but he didn't have anything else. That wasn't the point.

"Do whatever you want Dean but I'm not slowing down because you're trying to dress like a bad ass. This ain't a Sunday stroll, Sparky."

She was just trying to pick a fight now and Dean Winchester wasn't one to back down from a fight. "Don't worry about me sweetheart. Worry about yourself, Mae."

"I can more than handle myself."

"Then why not do this by yourself?"

"I'd love to! You were supposed to leave. I've done all the legwork on this one. You're just along for the ride."

Mae knew she didn't have to prove anything to him or herself. That didn't matter right then. Dean had no right to claim that she was nothing but a professional. Hell, she knew it wasn't true. Sam had said as much. "I wanna make sure this thing goes down right, no little slips ups. You know all about slip ups don't you Mavis?"

Dean was entirely wrong and if his temper weren't guiding him, he wouldn't have said it. But he did. "You know I do. And as I recall, they only happen when you and your family are around."

That was true, at least to his knowledge and he had no desire to hear it. They were supposed to have protected her and clearly, they had all failed. Better to keep pushing her away. "Then maybe when you had your chance to leave you should have stayed gone."

Mae took a step closer. "That would have been easier for you, wouldn't have? Just sweep unpleasant things under the rug."

Then Dean took another. "Do you even know what the hell you're talking about? I wasn't the one who threw away a good thing."

Not unlike a deadly dance, Mae moved closer yet again until they were nearly standing on top of each other. "A good thing? As I remember it, you threw a huge fit when I wouldn't screw you the moment you saw me."

"That's not how it happened Mae. And if you haven't forgotten, you had no problem spreadin' for--"

Mae cut him off, jabbing her finger in his chest. "You don't have one damn clue about what really happened. You've assigned all these ideas and motivations around the whole thing. Trust me, you don't know."

"Then for fuck's sake tell me."

"It wasn't—" With a rough sigh, she pushed her hand through her bangs. "You know what? It doesn't matter, Dean. Think whatever you want about me, about that night. I'm tired of all this."

"Oh you're tired of all this? You don't get to end this Mae." Dean grabbed her wrist turning her back to him. "It's not about what I think. We never had any arrangement, sweetheart and you were more than welcome to mess around with anyone you wanted just not..."

Dean couldn't say the words nor could he keep the hurt out of his eyes. Mae just didn't get it. "Why not?"

"You don't get what's sick about that?"

"You're pulling the puritanical card on this?"

They stood practically chest to chest now, heat in both of their eyes. Dean tried to impose on her but the minimal height difference didn't seem to register for her. "Listen Mae, maybe you should have tired working out your daddy issues somewhere else."

"Oh me? I need to work out my daddy issues? That's rich, fucking rich coming from you."

"What's that mean?"

"Come off it Dean. Even you can't be that dense! You've lived your whole life trying to live up to this... illusion you've built about Daddy John."

Dean gave her a disbelieving chuckle, real anger bubbling just below the surface. Mae knew better than to talk about his father that way. "My dad's a hero."

"Yeah, a hero who doesn't notice one thing you do. I may be screwed up but nothing like you Dean. You ever wonder how a real father should treat you?" Dean's jaw clenched as Mae continued. "He's not a hero Dean. He's a guy who couldn't deal and the man's screwed to hell. Then you just fall right in line with him. You're Daddy's little soldier. At least Sam had the balls to question the man, to go off and find his own life. You drag him back. Now I'm here. And you know what? Daddy still doesn't notice."

"Maybe you can tell because he never noticed you. Never. You know my dad never said word one about that night. Not that I could blame him. There's not much to talk about."

Mae snorted. "You think I'm bad in bed? That's the best you've got Sparky? Because it ain't like you kept me interested."

It wasn't true but she wasn't going to back down, even if the fight was pointless. She knew it was. It wasn't even a fight she wanted to have. "Honey, trust me, it was you not me who made that whole arrangement… uninteresting."

He shoved her and she shoved right back. "Really because you've been the only one who's remotely complained. Everyone else has always enjoyed it."

Both of them had given in to the childishness of the argument for lack of something better to do with the pent up emotion. "Well, that's what you get for banging drunks in bars Maeby."

"Likewise. I'm not the one who fucked the first blind drunk bimbo who'd follow me into an alley."

Dean scoffed, throwing his hands up in exasperation. "You're about to claim that what you did was… morally better?"

"I sure as hell am not about to take a lecture on sexual morality from _you_."

That finger of hers stabbed at his chest again. Dean was certainly sick of it. He caught her finger in his fist, squeezing tighter than necessary. "Well one thing can be said about both you and that bimbo."

Her eyes flared at both his words and his hold on her but she didn't back down either. "Wisdom from Dean Winchester? This should be good."

"You both got screwed over, in more ways than one. At least she knew she wouldn't be getting a call the morning after."

Yanking her hand away from him, her eyebrow arced. "You think I was expecting one? Believe me, I wasn't. It was purely physical and it was good. It would seem there are something you just can't learn."

Mae had no clue why she was saying what she was but it was just one thing that was sending everything spinning out of control. The next thing she knew, he had grabbed her wrists and pinned them behind her back. His lips fell hot on hers. It wasn't a kiss so much as an assault on her mouth. Her muffled gasp only allowed his tongue to pry into her warm opening. Even with her hands trapped, she was hardly defenseless. Mae stomped on his instep, drawing his mouth away. While he was off balance, she hooked her long leg behind his knee and spun them so he toppled to the bed.

Dean found himself flat on his stomach with Mae's knee painfully embedded in his back. Her hands wrapped almost too tightly around his wrists as she held them to the bed. The redhead leaned close, her breath hot against his ear. "Don't ever act like you have any right to touch me. You try something like that again and I'll kill you."

He didn't doubt the seriousness in her hiss. Possibly the only reason she didn't hurt him further was because Sam took that moment to emerge from the bathroom.

Mae's eyes were still burning when she looked up at the younger brother. After a moment, she let Dean up but not before giving his head a harsh shove. "Get your shit, we're rollin'."

It may have sounded casual but it was a harsh order.

"Dude, what the hell was that?"

Sam nearly whispered incase Mae was listening. He did not want to piss that woman off. "Nothin'."

Dean replied coolly as she stood to straighten his shirts. He felt like an idiot for losing control of the situation like that. "Looked like a girl was kicking your ass."

Clearly, his older brother wasn't in the mood for that, judging by the look he shot him. "I'll just get ready to go."

Dean only stalked away to his bag, roughly packing it.

* * *

Mae wanted to smack Sam. As soon as her anger had subsided to safe levels and the boys were ready, he started needling her. Once again, she reminded herself that she should have left. A smart woman would have just taken off, never to look back again. But she had made a promise. Right now, there was no doubt in her mind that he was playing so little game, forcing her to take the front seat, next to Dean. He knew she knew when her grey eyes sent him a searing glare over the Impala's dark roof. Feeling audacious, he flashed her a wholehearted smile. Okay, so poking the bear in this case would mean Dean and Mae's arguing would likely kick up to a whole other level.

Sam however had decided that the pair needed to solve this problem and if they weren't going to let him help, well he was just going to force the issue. They would either talk or throttle each other. That would solve things one way or another. He was banking on the former because the night before, they seemed to get along well, thick as thieves. Or so it seemed. Dean had given him no impression that things were as tense as they were minutes before.

Working on that map, the gathering of supplies and clean of guns left them rather amiable, to the point that they were joking about the crappy late night movie when they had all been together. He'd caught both of them more than once smiling and looking away before the other caught it. Surely, that meant something. Whatever had gone wrong between them, and it was a pretty big whatever he decided, hadn't changed the core of their relationship. His brother deserved to be happy and who knew, maybe among all the emotions Mavis made him feel, happiness was among them.

They certainly weren't suitable for general society. A year ago, maybe even a few months ago, he would have said that any relationship that involved this many guns and knives, not to mention ghosts and werewolves and any number of supernatural bad guys was doomed. None of his relationships had been made better for it but he and Dean were two every different people. But weren't relationships about understanding and sharing something? Mae and Dean probably understood each other more than any two people could. Besides, when she was mad at him it wasn't as bad as when she was mad at Dean.

Mae was quite tempted to kill both of them. Hell, very few people would even notice. She half wondered if John would. It seemed the man had washed his hands of his boys. Still, if she killed them she could be long gone by the time anyone ever noticed. Shaking her head, Mae sighed inwardly. This wasn't going to be one of those things they could just bury and forget about.

If she were being honest with herself though, she would have to admit that she couldn't name anything they had just let lie. Dean had always been surprisingly honest with her and vise verse. It was only now that they had gotten older and decided what stood in the way that they began to keep things from each other. Or flat out not talk. Growing up, even when they were half a country away, they would find the time to talk to each other. Late night phone calls she was certain John knew about but let slide.

Sometimes just talking to Dean made her feel like someone, anyone gave a damn about her. It wasn't as if Uncle Bobby let her do without, he just didn't keep her close. And if she didn't piss anyone off, it seemed like no one would notice her. Except Dean. This wasn't the time to think about that. Wasn't she still mad at him? He was still mad at her, judging by the way that his knuckles blanched as they tightened around the steering wheel. Mae couldn't help but ponder all of this as Dean drove out to the desolate edge of the Oregon woods where they would begin their search.

The tension was palpable in the front seat. Sam let his eyes pass between Mae and Dean. He could only guess about what had happened between them while he was in the shower but once again, it wasn't good. Mae and his brother had come to blows more than once over an argument but it seemed to solve things for them. He was almost hoping for a fight to break out, not now, but when it was over. Maybe it would be better for them just to settle this head to head.

After all, he couldn't fix this for them. He couldn't even get either of them to tell them what _this_ was. It was downright maddening at this point. Sam was smart enough, however, to know anything he would do to push either of them would just be adding fuel to the fire and he didn't want to be on the receiving end of this build up.

Dean drove with determination, needing to focus on anything other than the woman sitting next to him. She… she infuriated him. Alone, he could have handled all the little ways she bothered him but now when left to their own devices, he was going out of control. He didn't even understand his actions. Dean was a master of control yet Mae came in and could push all his buttons. Why the hell he thought kissing her would merit anything more than it had, he wasn't sure.

It was like being 14 all over again and not knowing what to do with her. At this point in his life, he should have been able to deal with her better. But it was a cruel twist of fate that he didn't and what's more, he had wanted her to kiss him back. As if that would have made things all right again. Almost anything would have been better than the stalemate they found themselves in. Dean sighed. This was going to be a fucking difficult job.


	7. Chapter 7

The Mercy of Fortune

Summary: Mae, Dean and Sam take off on the hunt. Takes place mid season one but will be AU.

Disclaimer: Course language. Flashbacks are in _italics_. Oh yeah, and I just own Mavis.

A/N: Okay, I'm back from vacation! Sorry for the wait on this chapter but I had to rewrite it about 3 times. Hopefully, it gives a little more background on Dean and Mae. He might seem a bit out of character but in my world Dean truly loved Mae so… on with the show, right?

Oh and if you're wondering, el duende is a goblin type creature, usually just mischievous rather than the killer I've made it, that is believed to lure young girls into the woods so they get lost. The lore says live inside the walls of children's rooms and like to clip their toenails, which often leads to the removal of whole toes!

_Feedback is my crack so let me know how I'm doing. Pretty please?_

~X~X~X~

Chapter 7

Litter crumpled beneath her boots as she made swift steps. She could still hear them; Dean to her left and Sam to her right as they made their way through the forest. Every so often, she would hear the movement of an animal or the wind but nothing seemed out of order. Considering that they should have seen at least _something_, anything indicating that the duende had been there, this it was not a good sign. She frowned.

There was something very wrong here but she couldn't put her finger on it, aside from the goblin and missing children. It was a feeling that ran down her spine. Unnecessarily checking her positioning with her compass, she sighed. There wasn't a damn thing out of place. She wondered if they were just wasting their time with this route. They would find something, wouldn't they? She was checking around the tress for the sleeping duende but to no avail. Of course, nobody said this would be easy but she had hoped for a while that it might have been. Nothing turned out as she hoped.

All three kept a watchful eye just, in case. The air was thick almost un-breathable because of the tension and anger boiling just below their duty. And no one knew how to deal with it. So they hunted. The hunt was all that remained between Dean and Mae. Nothing else was there for them any longer. Dean didn't know why that even mattered. What would he do if there were? Mae was… his past. No matter what existed between them, love or hatred, it was past. But neither Dean nor Mae's thoughts strayed from the other.

It wasn't as if Mae was unaware of the results of her actions. She was. Dean just didn't know whole story. It hadn't mattered before. Perhaps it didn't matter now. In fact, sleeping with John had unintended consequence of finishing what she lacked the courage to do. Her relationship with Dean wasn't something she could end on her own. She didn't have the guts to break up with him, cut him out of her life.

One stupid mistake had done it for her. That hadn't been her intent either. She had been given five years and a handful of opportunities to end things for good and never took the chance. Never during one of their phone calls or taking up one of Dean's offers to get together. None of them would have been as affective as that. All the same, she wasn't bound to tell him the truth now. It had been easier to let him get hurt then and it was still easier to fight with him now. It didn't matter at present.

She took John's call and as promised, she was looking after the boys. John had contacted her, something he hadn't done in years and knowing what she knew about the man, she couldn't say no, wouldn't say no. Even if his request was totally insane. Because when John cut ties, they stayed cut. He had pissed off more than his fair share of people. Those he'd crossed or crossed him in one way or another, John never spoke to them again. Ever.

While his tone had been almost harsh, nearly an order, there was something behind it that made her think twice. For whatever reason, in that moment as she heard John's fear over the line, she thought that she could ignore everything with Dean. She thought they could just be professional but she had only been fooling herself. It wasn't as if Mae couldn't see his side. She had banged his dad. That was weird. And a cruel treachery for a man who had treated her like a princess. No matter the reasons, it would always be a slap in the face, a kick in the balls.

Second-guessing herself was not something Mae did easily but damned if she didn't feel awful about the whole thing. For all his faults, he did not deserve what she had done or how she treated him. Even now, she knew that she would not have come up with a better solution. At this point, he was better off not knowing why she needed to push him away. It would only hurt him more. Another sigh escaped her pensive lips. Her rambling line of thought wasn't helping her or the job. If only she could focus…

~X~X~X~

The sun was high now, shining brightly. The slices of light that pierced the boughs of the trees and penetrated to the forest floor only served as sharp reminders that they were losing time and any advantage they might have had. Perhaps the first thing learned while hunting was the skill of patience but it wasn't coming easy to Mae now. It was all Dean's fault. Her mind kept slipping back to him and she was feeling things about their situation she had not wanted to feel for years.

The three had hiked for a few hours before stopping to take a break, eat something and get their bearings. None of them had yet to seen any signs of the duende but they were still an hour or so from the area they had deemed most likely for its cave. However, Dean found himself rather unsettled as they put down their gear and unpacked some food and Mae retreated to the other side of the clearing. For the life of him, he did not know why he couldn't just stay mad with her. Nor could he completely forgive her.

Dean frowned as he watched her unfold the map, taking a seat on a large rock. The woman pulled him into complete disorder. And he hated to admit it but things were better when they were fighting. At least then, he knew she cared. Why did that matter so much to him? After this was over, they would go their separate ways. He would finally know exactly the way things stood between them. He wasn't happy with that.

He couldn't help but watch her unzip the legs from her pants, turning them into shorts. He didn't even bother to cover up his stare with any other activity. Mae had long creamy white legs any man would want wrapped just about anywhere on their body. He certainly did. Her hiking boots covered her slender ankles but he loved the way those legs looked mostly bare. When she was younger, those legs had always been skinny, but were now more defined and feminine. She was all legs, 5 foot 10 inches of legs.

God, she was driving him mad. Her body shouldn't have looked like that. It was not fair at all. Now in her tank top and shorts, he could see more of her well-trained body. Dean closed his eyes trying to block her out now. Discomfort washed over him at the idea that he was still attracted to her. Rather than shut down his feelings of desire, he found himself flooded with memories of her.

~*~ Three Years Ago ~*~

_He was in a rather good mood that day. It had been quite some time since things had come close to right. Since Sam had left for college… things hadn't been good. At all. His dad was being stubborn, as usual and couldn't make amends with his youngest son. Dean now stayed quiet on the subject but both Sam and John knew where he stood. He didn't want his family broken up anymore but clearly, he couldn't control either his father or his brother. They were like oil and water. _

_But today was good. It was a beautiful day, early in the summer in some small town in Minnesota. It was warm but the humidity had yet to set in and working this case with dad had allowed him some much-enjoyed time driving in his newly inherited Impala. Then his day got a whole lot better. _

_The redhead so casually leaning up against his car was unmistakable, looking like heaven and hell all rolled into one. The girl was audacious and had she been anyone else, even a pretty girl, he would have been pissed at the way she touched his freshly washed car. However, this was Mae Singer. God, she was beautiful. It had been a while since he saw her. After she got hurt both she and Uncle Bobby thought it would be best if she didn't go out hunting anymore. _

_5 years. He used to call her all the time but as it became clear she wasn't going to come back home, the calls became less frequent. Not for lack of trying. Dean did try for her. He tried to meet up with her, even wrote a couple letters, something he hated to do. But it was for Mae. She was practically family. Scratch that, she was family. He had worried lately as the past few calls he had made went straight to her voicemail and she hadn't returned them. None of that mattered now because here she was. She looked amazing. She was 16 when she left but now she was a full-fledged woman. 21. Free and legal. _

_Her hair was much longer now. She wore it free and loose, letting brush over her bare shoulders and contrasting her milky white skin nicely. His heart beat faster just seeing her. Mae wore a faded Led Zeppelin tank top and battered jeans with her old black boots. The sun glinted along the silver chain around her neck. He could still remember the way those tiny charms chimed together when she moved, the way they bounced against her chest particularly during sex._

_In that singular moment, life was perfect. As a smile crossed his lips, his stride became wider endeavoring to reach his girl, capture her in a strong embrace before kissing her. There was passion, desire, love, and affection all rolled up into that kiss. She was so intoxicating and it was all he could do not to drag her into the back seat of the car. He should at least say hello first. His mind was drowning in sensation. There had, of course, been other women in their time apart, most of whom he didn't remember that well but Mae set his body in flames like no other. She pulled back all too soon for Dean. Still, that goofy grin was plastered on his face. Nothing could have ruined the way he felt right then._

"_That the way you greet everyone, Winchester?" _

_There was a soft smile on her face, not beaming but warm and reassuring. "God Mae, you look fantastic." _

_He tightened his grip on her waist and pulled her in for another kiss. Only she didn't return it. Her hands braced against his chest; she pushed away from him. "Dean! You have a one track mind." _

"_Man can't survive on bread and water alone, baby." _

_She slapped his chest lightly as he reached for her again. "Dude, whatever. Like you've had to endure anything alone."_

"_Yeah but I would have rather done it with you." _

_She rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Like I said, whatever. Where's your dad?" _

"_Out working." _

_He wanted to hold her again, didn't worry quite as much about the job at hand now that he was with her again. "And he's okay with you loafing?" _

_His smile fell a bit until he realized she was teasing. Shooting her a careless smile, he made a grab for her arm, pulling her back. "Hey, I'm working! I just schmoozed my way to the official police report." _

_He didn't tell her about the number the cute receptionist gave him but now that Mae was here, he didn't need or care about it. _

"_What are you doin' here Red?" _

_She shrugged. The notion that she was acting strangely lingered in the back of his mind but he pushed it aside. It had been 5 years. Maybe she didn't know that things hadn't changed for him. He needed to put on the breaks he decided. After the pause, the redhead responded. "Just passing through, heard tell of a werewolf." _

_Her eyebrows arched with question and expectation. Dean just grinned. He wanted to kiss her so badly again. He knew she would end up hunting again, no matter what happened or how much her uncle fought her on it. It was part of her just as it was part of him. And he liked that. Enthusiastically, he pulled the folder out of his light jacket and handed it to her. It surprised him how right she felt beside him. He took his place against the hood next to her. Pretending to read over her shoulder, he leaned in closer to smell the sweet strawberry scent of her hair. Only that wasn't what greeted his nose. She had changed shampoo or something. It wasn't unpleasant, in fact, it was fascinating._

_Leaning ever closer he pushed her hair over her shoulder to nuzzled and kiss her neck. His arm slid tightly around her waist and she tensed, pulling away. "Cut it out!" _

"_C'mon Mae. All work and no play…" He waggled his eyebrows at her in an attempt to sooth the angry grooves on her face. "I've miss you baby doll. Haven't you missed me?" _

_The slim girl shivered as he spoke faintly against her ear. "I said stop." _

_Her tone was low and gritty. Dean let go. While pretty and almost soft looking, Mae wasn't. Some might call her brutal but he knew that was only a cover. That didn't make it less true. He was definitely getting that vicious vibe now._

_He held his hands up in surrender. "Cool down Maeby. I was just trying--" _

"_I know what you were trying." She interrupted. Standing, she thrust the folder back at him. "Don't."_

_Her eyes were hard, indomitable and her angular face was just as obstinate. "What's wrong sweetheart?" _

_He asked in a calm but concerned tone. That wasn't how she took it, it seemed. "Nothing! Nothing's wrong with me. Just keep your hands to yourself." _

"_I thought… Mae I know it's been a while but I thought… we had something." _

_Those eyes that epitomized cool flamed with her temper. "We had 'a thing' when we were 16. We're adults now." _

"_Exactly. We don't have to sneak around anymore. We can just… be together. Listen, I know I came on strong. I'm sorry. You're just so gorgeous and I can't help but want you." _

_His hand was back on her shoulder sliding down her smooth skin. Jerking away from him a final time she thrust a finger at his chest. _"_I said no and I meant it. I don't want you to touch me." _

"_Okay fine, I won't touch you but you know you kissed me back earlier."_

"_You didn't give me much of a choice." _

_Dean sighed. This wasn't going as planned. Maybe she was seeing someone else or… he couldn't think of anything else. The only reason he wouldn't want to be with her would be if there were another woman. He just hadn't met a girl who could hold a candle to his girl. She had to know that right? But he relented. He wasn't prepared to lose someone else he loved right then. "I don't want to fight Mae, I really don't. So whatever this is, can we… talk or something later?" _

_He pleaded with his eyes, waiting for her to break. She was strong willed but he was certain he still knew her weak spots. "There's nothing to talk about Dean. However, there is something that needs to be killed. That's what I'm going to do, I don't know about you." _

_She tossed the jab just as she tossed her hair over her shoulder and turned from him. She practically marched to her motorcycle and it roared to life with the same growl Mae seemed to have taken on. The older hunter sighed but got in his car. He would head back to the motel, surprised when she followed._

_Dean frowned as he watched her in the review mirror. He couldn't deny that he wanted her, lord how we wanted her but it wasn't just physical. Genuine love had entered the mix, long ago before he had even realized that it wasn't simply affection for a girl he grew up with. Dean didn't want to be too sappy but he felt as if she was the one. There were so many problems with that idea yet he held to it. He didn't even know if he could be faithful, and she deserved that, for more than a few months. They had never been together in the same place long enough to test the theory._

_When they were together, he was with her totally. When they were apart… it wasn't as if they had agreed to remain true. He hadn't nor had she. His mind didn't dwell on what she might have found with other men because she was with him now. They might have been fighting but she was back. If she didn't want him, she wouldn't have come back. She had just forgotten what he was like when he was with her. Admittedly, he had too but he could see it, feel the difference in his thoughts and actions when he was with her._

_Glancing back again, he knew he would just have to show her. It was fair to expect that their situations had changed but his feelings for her had never wavered. In all the years he had known her, they had only become stronger, today included. How could she not feel the same way?_

~*~ Present Day ~*~

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Dean shook his head at the bittersweet memory. He had loved her, not just puppy love but a true and defining love. Clearly, he had been mistaken about her feeling the same way. He didn't know what she had felt all those years ago but evidently, it didn't mean as much to her. It was like feeling his heart break all over again. He should have known, even before the ugliness that followed that she hadn't come back for him that day.

It wasn't the first time since that day that he wondered if she came back because of his dad. Maybe there had been something going on between them long before that. The thought made him frown and feel distinctly tainted. It was difficult not to find just as much fault with his father for his actions. After all, Mae was Bobby's niece and his girlfriend; both of those were enough reason not to pursue her, no matter what Mae might have wanted. John Winchester wasn't a saint but was his father really that kind of man? Dean closed his eyes again. They had never spoken of it. He didn't know if he could see his father in the same way if he knew that truth. It was easier to blame Mae.

Even so, while he wanted to accuse her of doing it to be cruel, to get back at him but he couldn't. He had known Mae better than anyone else had and she wasn't vindictive. Mavis was sweet. And none of that explained anything. She still screwed his dad, she still left and she still came back. He didn't have enough answers and he had run out of patience.


	8. Chapter 8

The Mercy of Fortune

Summary: Mae, Dean and Sam take off on the hunt.

Disclaimer: Takes place mid season one but is AU. Some language and I suppose 'adult situations'! Please read and review.

* * *

Chapter 8

Mae was better prepared for this than the boys were. She had gear, hiking and camping gear, not just things for the hunt. It was rather impressive. Dean had no intention of telling her that even if they were talking. Sam would try every now and then to say something, receiving only monosyllabic grunts from either Mae or Dean. As if this wasn't a bad enough job already. They had a handful of dead kids and two more missing. And those two were behaving _like_ children.

Sam was well aware of the change between Mae and Dean since their fight in the motel room. She had totally withdrawn from everything but the case. He didn't like it much but it gave him a chance to talk to his brother. It wasn't perfect but they could not keep going like this with the two all over the board emotionally, least they forget they were still trying to kill a goblin. "So you and Mae…?"

"Sam, drop it." He held a hand up, his face a grim facade. "No way. The two of you are driving me crazy. And she's driving you nuts too." "Don't mean I wanna talk about it." Dean was being more than stubborn. Sam just wanted answers and he knew Mae wouldn't give them. There was only one source. With a sharp sigh, he decided to change tactics. "Why does she keep hunting? I mean, what's in it for her?" Dean looked over at Sam like he was crazy. "Mae? She was raised by hunters. She _is_ a hunter."

"C'mon Dean. Bobby tried to avoid that at all costs." Dean scoffed. "Clearly, that worked." " Dad was more than willing to train her." His brother frowned a bit. "She needed to be trained. She was in just as much danger. Bobby knew that too." Sam shrugged. "Yeah well… that doesn't explain why she's still here. After that fight she and Bobby had…" "Dude I don't know why she does it. I just know she's damn good at it. Isn't that good enough for you?"

"You said it yourself Dean. You haven't spoken to her in 3 years. And before that… she had reason to leave. So why is she hunting now?" Dean shrugged. Sam always was the one to talk it out and while there was a part of him that wanted, needed to talk about Mae, this was not the time or the place. "Things changed for her, more than once. And it doesn't really matter because the hunt is what's important to her, nothing else."

Dean said the last part with such conviction that it made Sam start to think again. His brother always said that was dangerous and maybe this time it was. Sam had never been clear on why Mae dropped off the radar after she was hurt. It wasn't just an injury. And it wasn't just Dean she stopped talking to. She pretty much cut ties with her uncle Bobby and anything relating to hunting. Mae had been hurt before, too often for normal a 16 year old. Granted, that injury had been bad, among the worst he had ever seen. She had every right to leave.

If ever there was a time to reconsider your life, it was when you were impaled on a wrought iron fence. She was lucky to be alive, she was lucky to be able to walk and she'd been given both those gifts. Now Bobby wasn't like their dad but Mae was free. It might have come at a price but she was finally free. Why then didn't she stop hunting? There wasn't some tragedy that pulled him back. Mae didn't have a Jess. It was her choice. If anything, she was more resolute about hunting now. So, if Dean's words and tone were any indication, her own personal mission had left his brother in her wake.

"So…when she came back? What happened?" Dean shook his head. "Sammy, I'm askin' you to just drop this." It bothered him for a myriad of reasons but telling Sam the truth of the situation seemed somehow disgraceful. "Dean…" "Fine, you wanna know, you really wanna know?" Sam nodded, grateful that he had finally gotten through to his brother. "Fine, pal, you wanna know what happened… she slept with Dad."

The younger man was not prepared for that particular revelation. He'd had time to postulate all the reason why Mae and Dean stopped talking, why she had cut off contact with all of his family and that never once crossed his mind. "Dude! What?!?" Mae's head shot up at Sam's outburst. Offering her a weak smile only getting a frown in return, he was certain he was blushing. She watched the brothers for another moment before turning back to her map.

Dean smacked Sam in the chest, glaring him down. "You heard me." He hissed. "He's… old enough to be _her_ dad!" Sammy repressed a shivered but the grimace was still on his face. "Dad and Mae? That is so… gross." Gross was the word for it. She was practically their sister. Evidently, she didn't feel that familial connection in quite the same way. "You're tellin' me." Dean replied. He could have used a drink right then.

"How the hell could Dad do that?" "Dad? What about Mae?" "C'mon Dean, you know dad…" "You're saying he what? Took advantage of her?" Sam shot his brother a meaningful look. Did Dean truly blame Mae and Mae alone? Of course he did. This was their dad they were talking about after all. Mae wasn't innocent either. Sam didn't have the details but as his brother was fond of saying it takes two to have hardcore sex. Mae and their dad had done just that by all estimations.

Trying his best to push that unneeded visual from his mind, he tried to get to the next part of the story. "So all this is because you found out she had been… doing our dad?" Still Dean defended her. "It was just once, okay?." "Okay." Sam would let the point rest. There was no use in arguing this one. "So you two fought and…" Dean couldn't stop himself now. He was actually gratified to get all this off his chest. "Oh, there was no fight." Dean's eyes flickered back to the redhead. Finding that she hadn't moved, he continued.

"I found her in that room putting her clothes back on, slammed the door and when I finally came back hours later, she was gone. Dad never said anything about it and I sure didn't want to talk about it. I haven't heard from Mae since until now, didn't really want to." He couldn't blame Dean for feeling the way he did. If his girlfriend had slept with his dad, well, he didn't think he could deal with that at all. The fact that his brother could speak to either Mae or their father was something he didn't think he had the strength to do.

"Yeah I wouldn't either but… maybe you should talk to her now." Closing his eyes, Dean shook his head. "Anything we might have to talk about doesn't matter now." Sam opened his mouth, wanting to say something more but was cut off by Mae. He hadn't noticed her packing her gear back up. "C'mon, we gotta roll." And she headed down the trail leaving the boys to follow or get left behind.

* * *

The darkness fell fast. They had spent the better part of the afternoon searching, with no luck in that same atmosphere of disapproving glances and uncomfortable stares. Firelight cast odd angles of shadows over the trees and rocks. And the one thing she was starkly aware of was Dean. Things were worse now and she had no one to blame but herself. God, Mae thought, propping her arms on her knees. This is not what was supposed to have happened. She was supposed to keep an eye on the guys, do her job and keep things together. But in a matter of days, she had said more hurtful things to Dean than she had ever wanted to even think. She didn't hate Dean and she didn't want to be this… angry.

Her gaze moved to the man in question. The man slept somehow, out of necessity she supposed. They had all learned to sleep when they could. So, Dean slept and she watched him. Sam watched her. She could feel his questioning eyes on her. It was a look of confusion and a bit of disgust. "Oh I know that look Sammy. So how much did Dean tell you?" Sam looked away from her, not exactly eager to talk to her about this. He hadn't meant to stare but he found himself unable to reconcile what his brother told him with what he knew about the woman.

Mae was many things in his life of which she probably wasn't aware. She was the closest thing to a mother he knew, aside from Dean he supposed. His brother and Mae were the ones who had spent more time raising him that his own father. He still remembered how she would crawl into bed with him and let him cry so his brother didn't know when he got scared. She protected him the way a mother could.

And as they got older, she was the compassionate shoulder he could lean on, talk to and confide in when he couldn't talk to Dean. Even though she was more like his brother, she was still more kindhearted and understanding. He worried that this life had changed that. She didn't seem so sweet anymore, now she was colder and distant. Mae only smiled at his discomfort. "He uh, he told me you slept with Dad. Is that true?" "What do you think? Is that a story you think Dean would make up?"

"I guess not. Why then?" Mae shrugged. "I was an adult. I was and still am free to be with whomever I chose."

"Yeah but… dad?" The woman frowned. It was no secret that Sam disapproved of almost everything his father did; now she had no reason to add to that list. "Looks that way." She was just as evasive as Dean was but she was more complacent in her acceptance of the situation. The one thing that was perfectly clear to the younger Winchester was that both Mae and Dean were far from okay with the situation.

Neither of them would confront it. What the hell had really happened between them? Sam could understand why even without a real commitment between them, Dean had been bothered by her choice in partners but he couldn't exactly point the accusing finger. It was more interesting to consider his comments before. He and Mae might not have been more than a summer thing but the way Dean talked about her… he still had feeling for her, no matter how much the man might try to deny it.

Under the careful observation of Sam's eyes, Mae gave a little. "It's not like I haven't been with other men too. I'm not screwing my way through the Winchester family tree and if I were… you'd be in trouble Sammy." He wasn't sure if he should laugh or not, merely giving her a worried and troubled look. At that she laughed. "Mae I…" The look on Sam's face was almost comical, as if he was truly worried he would have to fend off her advances.

"Dude, seriously… if you're looking for a reason, I don't have a good one okay? But Dean and I weren't together, I didn't want to get together with him and… the rest just sort of happened. It's not a good story I know but…" Prior to this, she hadn't thought much about having to explain this to anyone, least of all Sam or Dean. It was their dad after all. "It's okay. I understand, I guess. And you don't need to explain it to me. You should tell Dean." "You've met your brother? Trust me, he doesn't want to talk about this and for that matter, neither do I."

* * *

Mae's hands skimmed down his sides. Her mouth came within millimeters of his but didn't quite touch. Her breath was hot but sweet as it mingled with his. His mind couldn't recall the last time he had wanted something or someone this badly. That tricky tongue darted out between her bare lips slickening them with just enough moisture to make them shine in the dull fire light. But he'd been thinking about her too much to let her get away with that.

His hands seized the back of her head and he slammed his mouth against hers. His tongue thrust against her mouth, sparing with hers in a duel he couldn't get enough of, no matter what she had done. Unlike when he'd kissed her this morning, she responded with as much fervor as he was putting into it. He let his hand run over her arms before letting them come to rest on her hips and pulling her against him. That warm slim body of hers felt amazing against his even through the clothes. Dean walked her back before he was able to press her against the trunk of a tree, parting her legs with his knee.

She didn't resist whatsoever, in fact she answered back with her own lust. Slim fingers pulled at his hair, hard enough to be a mix of pain and pleasure. His pants were already uncomfortably tight as he pressed himself into her all too covered apex. His hands almost trembled as they rounded over her hips and under her tank top. Mae's skin was delightfully smooth and convincingly warm. There was nothing wrong about this, not when she felt so damn good. He grinned against her mouth, parting for a moment, as he felt her abdomen quiver at his touch. His touch.

She wanted him just as much as he wanted her. If he wasn't so lustful, he would have gloated. Attempting to relieve his tension and drive her crazier, he ground his hips against her. Her eyes were heavy with desire; it fueled him. Lifting her legs up, wrapping them around his waist, Dean raked his teeth along her collarbone. The woman smelled amazing. Mavis wasn't like most girls he had been with. She was different and more dangerous because of that. He wanted her, had wanted her almost from the moment he saw her in that bar. She had looked so seductive without even trying. He took her tank top off and she complied, letting his hands slide under her bra to massage her. Leaning in, she whispered something in his ear but he didn't hear words.

And Dean woke with a start. He hadn't been asleep long, not compared to the length of that dream. God, he thought, it wasn't bad enough that his brother liked having her around but part of his mind was convinced that he needed her too. So was his body. Everything seemed set on betraying him when it came to Mae. What the hell was he supposed to do with her?

Something had to give. He positively ached for her; not just physically but there was something perilous that lay just beneath that. Dean didn't want that. Even hating her would have been too much. He had wanted to cut her out of his life entirely. He wanted her to not mean one goddamn thing to him. And for years he had convinced himself that she hadn't matter that she only proved exactly why you didn't get close to anyone. This goblin was the least of his problems at this point.


	9. Chapter 9

The Mercy of Fortune

Summary: Oh now some much awaited action!

Chapter 9

* * *

A boot nudged her but she mumbled something and turned. "Mae. Get up." His voice wasn't more than a whisper but the command behind it was clear and penetrated her sleep. With less than military efficiency, she struggled up in her sleeping bag but at least she was up. "Wh-what? What's wrong?"

"Sam's missing." She must have misheard him. Scrubbing her hands over her face she tried to make sense of things. "Did you just--" "Get up! We have to find him." Dean wasn't spending anymore time getting her up. He effectively stepped over her and off to look for Sammy. She shook her head, attempting to clear the sleep out of her mind and twist out of the sleeping bag. Looking across the fire pit, Sam's sleeping bag was indeed empty but to here that didn't mean all that much. It was a big forest and the younger Winchester brother was more than capable of taking care of himself.

Nevertheless, Mae was on her feet and after him tugging on her boots as she tried to catch up. "Hold up, what's going on here?" She yelled out, finding it more difficult to follow him and dress at the same time. "Sammy, Mae. Can't find Sammy." He moved like a man on the warpath, ground eating strides moving him quickly from her as she struggled to right her clothing. "Dean! Dean, what the hell are you talking about?"

"What do you think _Mavis_? Sam's missing, we gotta find him." The man still wasn't making sense to her but she pick up her pace until she caught up to him. "He's probably just takin' a leak. Let the man pee in peace." "He's not, okay? That damn goblin has him." She had seen that intensity in his eyes before he stopped and turned to her. It nearly made her take a step back. Mae kept her mouth shut then. "You hear anything last night Mae?"

"You think I would have just turned over and gone back to sleep." His eyes soften when he looked back at her. She looked half-crazed with her hair rumpled from sleep, clothing disheveled and wrinkled from sleep but she followed him with due diligence. He took a breath, trying to calm himself. "He's my baby brother." Reaching out, she placed a stable hand on his forearm. "I get that Dean, okay?" "No! You don't. I don't know why you're out here but he's my family so while you may not give a damn about that, I do." "This isn't the time to have this fight. Trust me, if I didn't care about your family I wouldn't be here." His panic mixed their on going feud and pushed him closer to the edge with her. "Yeah right."

Her hand fell swiftly across his cheek. It was hardly the first time woman slapped him but it seemed more of an insult coming from her. Mae could have knocked him flat on his ass. They were well matched physically, despite his weight advantage. Both of them were well-trained fighters and the only way he could win with her was by pinning her. He would have preferred the punch, he could have fought back, wanted to fight back. The slap was somehow milder as if she were attempting to calm a hysterical woman.

"Get it together Dean. I know it's Sam, your baby brother but I need you thinking clearly here. Sam needs you to think clearly." He couldn't believe it, the way she was so calm. This was Sam! "Get it together?" Dean tugged away but her grasp remained firm. "Yeah. That's what I said. You know if we do this like civilians, he doesn't stand a chance. We're the best that Sam and those kids have." He frowned. He hated that she made sense. "We're still looking." It didn't need to be said, he knew but he needed to make sure.

"I wasn't suggesting otherwise but we're in the middle of nowhere and got no clues, no leads, we need to be smart. Sam can take care of himself, you know that. That's just about the only thing on our side right now. " Of course, she was right. Still he gave her a last warning. "We have to find him." She nodded curtly. "Let's go back to camp. I'll pack up, you look for… something. There has to be something."

"I should check out there." Dean gave a large, wide sweep of his arm, indicating in the opposite direction of their camp. "We're not splitting up. This thing is smarter than we thought. It took us when we were least suspecting and is trying to divide and conquer. I'm not going to get taken out by some freakin' goblin." Again, she had a point but out of defiance, he wouldn't tell her. He gave a noncommittal shrug before marching back to camp. Behind his back, she pinched the bridge of her nose; unsure how they'd been caught with their pants down like this and wondering if she could keep Dean in line.

Even as they searched around the camp, he was getting agitated. It wasn't that he had a better plan. He had no plan in fact but every second they were here was another second they weren't giving to the search for Sam. "How the hell could thing thing get Sam?" He asked aloud as he headed back to Mae. "He probably stepped outside the green zone," Mae said, casting him a glance. "Sam's not that dumb."

"We all did it Dean. We didn't think to put lines down everywhere. So when we went to take a piss…" Mae trailed off but he realized she had a point. "You think?" "C'mon Dean, Sammy's a big guy. These thing aren't supposed to be more than 2 feet tall. I haven't seen one personally but if that's true, I know I'd pick the smallest and weakest target. And that's me. Think about it." She added at Dean's look.

However, she had misunderstood it. He was actually surprised to hear that she had been thinking about this. He had assumed to some degree that she was just trying to keep him calm, rather than find Sam. "I'm shorter, lighter and I was sleeping on the other side of the fire, apart from you. If it could have crossed the lines, I would have been easiest to pick off."

Dean sighed, raking a hand through his hair. "Alright, I'll look in that direction. Let's keep track of each other." "No argument here pal." With a nod, Mae went about packing in their gear, still hoping that she might find something. Although, she didn't' want to find it here. She hoped her theory was right. It was already bad enough that they were evidently being hunted back now without the added threat that this goblin might be invulnerable to most of their mojo.

They had to be close. That might have been the only good thing about this whole predicament. They might be able to find it now. Or they might get Dean's brother killed. While she finished packing, Dean would call our to her every now and then, like a twisted game of Marco-Polo. "Find anything?" He asked, cleared dissatisfied with the results of his own search. She shook her head, handing a pack to him. "Let's head west then. That seems like our best bet."

He let her take charge, only because he didn't know where to start. Mae might not have either but she kept him moving. Something was different now. He knew he should have kept his mind on the task at hand but he could only think of Mae. She was making his emotions go haywire. One moment, he wanted to kiss her the next he wanted to hit her. He wanted to hold her and push her away. He wanted to still love her and wanted to feel nothing for her. He wanted to be her friend and he wanted to be her enemy.

Right now, he found himself respecting her, the way she moved and worked. He had always respected her in that facet. Mae had always had a sharp mind and inclination for the skill set hunting required. He didn't consider him a slouch but they made a good pair, at least he thought so. What Mae lacked in strength and viciousness, he had. Although it seemed she had been able to make up for that in recent years.

She was making him nuts. As she squatted to examine some tracks, the waistband of her pants dipped and her shirt rose to show an intricate pattern of squiggles and lines. The curving tattoo wasn't without aesthetic beauty but he suspected it wasn't meant to be body art or a symbol of her teenaged rebellion. It was something new too. Still, he was Dean. "That's some tramp stamp Mavis." She hated being called Mavis but she only laughed. "Like you've never seen, Sparky." Her grin was almost cheeky as she shot him a look over her shoulder. "I never thought you'd get a tattoo."

"Guess you were wrong." It amazed him that she could make him smile still.

Leaving the campsite, the pair headed deeper into the Cascades. "These mountains are actually part of the 'Ring of Fire'." "What?" Dean's thoughts couldn't have been any farther from thinking about her geologic trivia. "Nothing. I just thought it was interesting." "You think now's the time for interesting?" Mae shrugged. "Why do you think I'm somehow less serious about finding Sam?" "Because you're not being serious." "Yeah and you've never joked your way through every tense moment in your life. Geez, let someone else have a coping mechanism for once." "I thought yours was to leave." He said it under his breath but slightly off handedly. However, Mae heard it.

Mae turned, annoyance in her features. "Dude, what in the hell is wrong with you? One minute you're on my ass, then you're shoving your tongue down my throat, and then you're treating like we're besties. Pick a mode Dean!" He was annoyed too. They'd been circling around this far too long. "I can't! You're the problem."

"I'm the problem? How am I the problem?"

"How can you even wonder?"

"So we're starting in on this now?" She rolled her eyes.

"Yeah I guess we are." No, Mae was putting a stop to this is she could. They had a job to do and there was nothing left to discuss anyway. "There is a time and a place for this and… you know what? There's not. We've burned those bridges Dean." Dean had no intention of letting her off the hook. They needed to talk even if it was the wrong time. "Classic Mae, you're turning tail." Steely blue eyes narrowed at him as she took a step closer. "I don't turn tail." Now he stepped closer, pointed a finger at her. "The hell you don't. Whenever anyone gets close enough for it to matter, you run and hide."

"Like you would know! We grew up together and thought we were in love when we were 16, Dean! Look around, we're grown up now. And you don't know one damn thing about me." Mae yelled. "The hell I don't." Mae's arms folded over her chest. Dean didn't know what he was talking about. She hadn't run, she had chosen to fight another day. "What did I do after I got hurt huh? How have I lived my life? You don't know. Those calls, the letters… none of them matter. I stopped even opening them eventually. It was over before you stopped."

"Because you wanted it to be over."

"Exactly." He scoffed. He didn't want to hear this at all. "So you wanted… you wanted it to be over?" Finally, Mae thought. It had taken Dean long enough to realize that. Maybe now they could get past all of this. "Yes. You didn't notice that three years ago? I'm sorry it went down the way it did but… my life changed a lot after I got hurt, okay? More than you could know and things were different for me."

Dean frowned. He knew something was missing from her story but what it might have been, he could not guess. "You never thought to tell me this." This was tougher than she had anticipated because she had to look at him. His face was too damned expressive. "I tried. It just… It was harder than I thought. I haven't done anything to--" His eyes widened and he yelled back at her. "You slept with my dad!" Mae threw her hands up. "Oh my God! Why is that such a big deal?"

"Mavis! My dad… you have to—do you not get it?" His jaw was practically twitching. He could accept a lot of thing but Mae _had_ to know that it mattered. "Okay… I get it but… it's not like you haven't fucked a ton of chicks." It wasn't the point, Mae knew but she had to deflect. There was no winning on this topic with him. Even if she had the best excuse in the world, Dean wouldn't hear it or accept it. "None of them were your mom," retorted Dean.

"You don't know that. It shouldn't matter at this point."

"Well it does." It did and always would she figured. If there were something left to save between them, that would always stand between them. Mae sighed and tugged at her pony tail. "You shouldn't waste so much time on me."

"You're up your own ass on this one Mae."

"Excuse me?"

"Don't act like it didn't matter to you. Don't act like your heart didn't break too." Mae scoffed as she tried to sputter a response. But Dean was on a roll. "So you thought, 'oh I just do his dad, that'll fix it.'?"

She moved in. Even if it didn't matter, she didn't want Dean to think that she took it that lightly at the time. She still cared about him. "Not even close. Those two thing aren't even linked. They just happened one after another."

"That's a little hard to believe."

This fight was ridiculous. Mae wanted to beat a little sense into him but she didn't know what more she could give on this. "Believe what you want Dean." Mae turned, there was still a job to finish. Then they would never have to speak to each other again. "So that's that for you? You don't give a damn do you?" Dean was on her trail faster than she anticipated. "No, I don't give a damn about things we can't change. You wanna be mad at me, be mad. You wanna get off your high horse for a while and finish this job then let's go."

Her huff was resolute. She wanted to be done fighting with him. Dean would either have to get over this or… Mae didn't know what that 'or' might be but she was done with this game of pointing fingers and trying to place blame for a failed relationship. In the end, it didn't matter. Neither of them had done anything to salvage it. "You cold hearted bitch. To think I ever loved a whore like you." That stopped her. It wasn't the words, she had been called worse but never with such resoluteness from someone like Dean. "Excuse me? I'm the whore here? I'm cold hearted? I… you're a fucker." Dean smirked, pleased that his barb had cut her enough. But Mae was mad now.

"Explain to me what I would want with you? Look at you Dean, you're still the same guy you were at 17; a daddy's boy. Why the hell wouldn't I fuck your dad huh? Like it would be any different. I would have thought he would have been better but I guess all Winchesters are alike; worthless." He slammed her up against a nearby tree, pinning her wrists against her side. Mae could cut with her tongue alone and the look on her face said she just might mean it. Just as he was about to reprimand her, that bony knee of hers made fierce contact with his groin. There was no hesitation or sparring rules in effect here. He let go over her hands on instinct but she was still pinned, more so as he leaned into her with more weigh.

While he was busy cursing himself for leaving such a vital part of his anatomy unguarded, she slugged him. Hard. She pushed him away from her, he staggered back. One hand on his jaw, the other raised in a sign of surrender, he was surprised when her foot made contact with the side of his head. She was in full on attack mode and it was more than just a fight about that little white lie at this point. Shouldn't he be the one who was this mad at her? Mavis had always been a fighter, not one to easily back down. Maybe all the lines about how she fought like a girl had caught up to him. He didn't want to fight with her like this.

Hell, he was angry, angrier than he'd ever been with her but it was clear her rage topped whatever he was feeling. And she wasn't pulling punches. Those pretty blue eyes weren't so pretty any more, he though as she crossed the distance between them. She'd kick man when he was down, no doubt. That girl was kicking his ass. "How dare you! This wasn't about you! You don't know the first thing about what happened." She yelled.

Her emotions were in control now. She was not going to cry, she reminded herself. So she took another swing at Dean. Poorly aimed, Dean blocked it, grabbing her wrist in an attempt to restrain her. "Calm down, Mavis." "Fuck off." She growled, escaping the wristlock and putting him in one of her own, apply just enough pressure to make it hurt. "You have no idea, no idea Dean, what happened to me. In my life… I may be many things but I am not a whore. I hate you." She punched him again to keep from crying.

He'd hit a nerve and hell, she just wanted hit something. He was a good enough target. A series of swift punches landed on his jaw none too lightly before a kick to the solar plexus brought him right down to the ground again. By then he'd stopped fighting. He knew she was mad, maybe she had every right to be but the way she said 'I hate you' had stung. More than that, it took the fight right out of him. It hurt more than her kicks and punches. However, he had the foresight to wrap one of his legs between hers and pull her on top of him.

The scream she gave was more animal than human. They tangled, rolling and kicking and fighting along the forest floor. Dean took the defensive, struggling to not hit her, just to put an end to everything. But she was fighting back like a wildcat. At that point, he would have rather tussled with a werewolf than Mavis Singer. Her fist came flying at his face again and rather than let her pummel him more he grabbed both her wrists, pulling them behind her back and using his weight advantage to roll and pin her to the ground, arms now trapped behind her back.

This time he managed to remember and trap her legs down with a knee painfully embedded in her thigh, not wanting to reenact her earlier escape. But damned if she didn't fight back, bucking against him, in a way that in any other time or place might have been enjoyable. "Okay, I get it. I'm outta line. Now just calm down." "Don't tell me what to do."

"Please, Mae." "You have no right." She said through clenched teeth. Dean wasn't sure exactly what he didn't have the right to do but at that point it was more of a blanket statement. "Okay, you're probably right…" It was crazy, uncontrolled, undignified some somehow the perfect expression of everything that had been flying between them the past few days. And finally, they had come to the end of their patience and congeniality. They were rolling around the forest floor; kicking, punching, scratching, and screaming like children.

Now they lay there, panting and sweating and more or less exposed in ways neither were comfortable with. The way he had her pinned to the ground made it impossible for her to move or roll him off her. "Get off me, Dean." But he didn't for fear that if he let her go, if he broke contact he would lose his chance to get an honest answer out of her. For a moment, neither moved nor spoke.

"What the hell happened to you Mae? You can't even admit that we had something. You know I would have dealt with it if you had just told me you didn't feel the same way anymore. You didn't have to sneak behind my back and screw--" "Shut up." He was indignant. She could at least let him speak his piece. Then she could have her say. "Hey I'm trying--" "No you idiot, I heard something." "What?" Mae shifted her head. At a distinct disadvantage in this position, she couldn't get a good look until she tilted her head back. Dean watched her eyes widened before they snapped back to his. "Look."


	10. Chapter 10

The Mercy of Fortune

Summary: The real hunt begins!

Chapter 10

* * *

Dean followed her eye line. By God, there it was. It would have been comical, the dwarflike goblin standing there in of all things, a tall hat and vaguely tattered clothing, if it didn't have that menacing look in its eyes. "Fuck me." Dean said under his breath. Of all the times for them to start to have it out… then again, their timing had always been off. This time, it might get them killed. Dean pushed off her and as soon as she was free, she rolled to her feet.

But it was gone. "What the hell?" The pair exchanged a glance both aware that they had fallen into some sort of trap and their petty bricking was not helping them one bit. Going into a fight angry and distracted was a bad idea; she knew that. She also knew her wits weren't about her, her sense weren't as keen as they should have been. It still surprised her when the duende got the jump on them. The notion of their fight dropped away almost instantly as instinct kicked in. Dean's hand was on his gun and Mae slid a knife out of her boot as circled, back-to-back. Their movements were slow and deliberate but nearly ingrained. However much they had changed, some things remained the same.

The pair stilled when after a few minutes they saw no sign of the creature. "We have to be close." He whispered. Mae nodded as they exchanged worried glances. "Dean, we're being hunted." "I know." Mae took a breath. "If this thing is after us… It means Sam might be unguarded." Dean looked back at her, realizing what she was reluctantly suggesting. It was safer to take this thing together but if they were close to its lair as he thought, they had more of a chance to save his brother. "Go!" He ordered. After only a moment of hesitation, Mae was off. She moved toward the rocky region they had pinpointed earlier. She had no clue where she was going to start looking but she was going to take any time Dean was giving her.

Mavis moved on instinct. It wasn't something she lacked and was in fact heightened at times just like this. However, she felt more than a little off balance without any real clues, leads or toys. Mae was more of an intellectual hunter, preferring to know as much as possible before she came up against something. Only as she blindly hunted her way west in hopes of finding something did she realized they had no idea of how to stop this thing. She looked behind her. She found herself alone and in her stillness heard no other sounds. All that talk about being smart and she volunteered to wander off on her own when she didn't know where she was going or if she would find the thing first.

There was no way to know which one of them was being followed. "Damn it!" The tall woman uttered a curse under her breath. How the hell they had been so foolish as to let the goblin get the drop on any of them was beyond her. Never separate, she reminded herself. Nothing good came from it. Now they were down one man and the one on her side wasn't holding it together. Neither was she for that matter. Her plans had all fallen apart and all she could do was be petty. Blaming Dean would have been easy, even blaming herself for not keeping herself in check would have been the easiest option when compared to coming to terms with the truth.

As she found too often on this hunt, getting lost in her thoughts proved dangerous. It started with a simple misstep on a patch of ground that was far too soft for her weight. Her footing was lost, she tripped and it was all over from there. She tried to correct her position, tried to grab something to slow her decent but it was pointless.

Mae braced as she tumbled down the steep face of the hill. Unfortunately the only thing that came to her mind was how Dean would laugh at her were he to witness this. It infuriated her; half due to her own clumsiness and the other because of that man. She could deal with one or the other but not both. That was the only good thing about being separated. She was getting her ass kicked by the goblin, Dean and nature now.

Pain shot through her body when her chin caught the rock as she tumbled. When she finally came to land, she was unconscious. Mae wasn't certain how long she had been out. The light hadn't changed all that much so it couldn't have been that long she rationed. Her face hurt, her entire body did for that matter. She pushed herself to her feel and looked at the hill she had descended rather hastily. It looked more like a mountain from the base. There was no way she could get up the way she came down.

As she looked down, she noticed a healthy amount of blood gathered on her tank top. Her chin. Mae pressed the back of her hand to the area and it came back sticky with drying blood. No time to worry about it now. She had lost Dean in the process but was alone for the time being she thought. The duende wasn't anywhere to be found. That didn't mean much she knew, it was tricky and could just be drawing her out. She needed to get her bearings before she alerted anyone to her whereabouts. Looking around, she was stunned to find a cave. Caves had been slim pickings around here and a chill ran up her spine. Just the sort of thing she was looking for right in her lap. "Dude, no way." It was nearly impossible to believe and the women believed in a great many fantastical things. This though, was amazing. She hoped to God she was in the right place.

Slipping her other hunting knife out of her boot, she approached the opening carefully. She left her gear concealed in a nearby bush knowing she could moved better unencumbered and that she was far more comfortable with a knife than she was with any other weapon. So knife in one hand, flashlight in the other, she entered. And she prayed.

* * *

Dean moved cautiously after listening to Mae walk off. He waited until he couldn't hear her anymore. He hoped she could find Sam. As much as he didn't want to be stuck with her of all people, he sure as hell didn't want her wandering out there alone. It was embarrassing that they'd been caught with their pants down, so to speak. They were supposed to be more mature than that. Still it had felt good to not just dance around it.

When her footfalls disappeared, Dean sighed. They were on their own now. He knew both Mae and Sam were capable hunters as was he but this whole thing just seemed messed up. The deck was stacked against them. This sort of hunt should have been a piece of cake, even lacking as much information as there were, finding and killing some random baddie should have been simple.

That feeling of being watched crept up his spine again. Full-blown. Only this time his stalker would not be a pretty albeit infuriating redhead. Truth be told however, he would rather fight a monster than Mae. At least against a goblin or werewolf, he had a chance to win. It wasn't so with Mae. But he reminded himself, he had more pressing matters at hand. Dean didn't like being taken by surprise and he certainly didn't like the notion that this duende was a better hunter. He needed to draw it out into the open first. This is where he was going to turn the tables. Somehow.

* * *

It was dark but smelled heavily of decay, death even from the outside. Raking her hand through her hair, finding more litter and tangles than she would have liked she took a breath. For the first time in this trip, she was grateful Dean was there. With any luck, he would be able to hold off that goblin from coming after her while she checked the cave. If he could take care of it, she could find Sam and the kids, and get them to safety. Touching her charms, she said a silent pray to whoever might be listening to let this not be a trap.

Or some random wild animal. A knife, flashlight and knowledge of the supernatural would not stop a bear from mauling her if she was tiptoeing into its den. There was no other choice though. She had to check.

The beam of light swept through the cavern, catching dust particles still drifting in the air. In the heat of summer, she thought, the atmosphere would have been almost un-breathable with as hot and thick as it seemed now. She could finally see how the creature, used to subtropical weather could have settled in the northwest. It might have also explained why its behavior seemed so extreme. The duende was clearly not from around here and struggling to survive. Not as if that idea made it okay. It had gone rogue and needed to be put down. Hopefully, Dean could do that.

Personally, she would have stuck with the sun and heat of the south. In all likelihood, it hadn't been the goblin's first choice either. How many creatures had been 'imported', brought to foreign lands where they didn't stand a chance among people? It was one for the books certainly. Mae shook her head. Now was not the time to be philosophical about anything.

There was so much they didn't know, some much t he handful of folk stories didn't reveal. Mae had some deep and archaic sources at her disposal but this wasn't covered there. Mae took another few steps, shuttering as she heard the distinct crunch of bone under her boot. Her stomach wasn't easily turned but something about that particular sound did it for her every time. A deep breath might have been in order if she hadn't so desperately been attempting to avoid just such an action.

Sam had to be here. If sheer will was enough, he would have been standing in front of her. But having fallen ass backwards into this situation, she was counting on fate. Luck might not hold out for her but there had to be a reason other than klutziness. Walking deeper into the darkness, she grew ever quieter; searching out for any sound that might be Sam, a child or even that damned goblin.

* * *

The other sounds in the forest seemed to still and Dean's ear perked up. It was always a sign. Always. And he would have done a dance of joy at the thought of being able to catch the goblin. But it caught him first. A rustle of leaves and then something heavy hit his midsection. And it brought the tall man to his knees. He hadn't been expecting that. He tussled with it; throwing punches and attempting to use his height to an advantage. The creature had clung to him, attacking mostly with kicks and bites as it held tight. Dean rammed it against trees, rocks the ground, anything he could come in contact with as they rolled. It was barely bigger than a child but it was surprisingly strong and quick. And clever. The thing had taken Sam when it realized they were hunting it, lured them on to its ground and was going to take them down individually.

Even if he could reach his gun, he didn't know if it would have any affect. He didn't know exactly what might kill or slow the thing. It felt… well, less than solid. It was just solid enough to be a threat but not quite firm enough to be flesh and bone. His mind flashed back to something Mae had said. At the time he had been more focused on how much she pissed him off but now he was glad she had been there. The redhead said something about clay and punching this thing felt similar to hitting an adobe wall.

Thinking on his feet, Dean grabbed the duende and plunged them both into the river. The wrestled, Dean attempting to gain the upper hand and hold the damn thing under water long enough to drown it. The move was more of a gambit than a fully reasoned strategy but as the creature screamed and struggled against his vice like hold before eventually stopping, he was grateful for the idea. The once creature, the pain in his ass, melted away into mud and washed away with the currants. A sigh danced passed Dean's lips as he got to his feet. With disgust, he shook the mass of water from his dripping sleeves. "Oh I fucking hate camping." Still, as he slogged back to the sandy bank, he relaxed ever so slightly. This was possibly the best thing to happen on this entire God forsaken hunt. Now he just had to find Mae and Sam.


	11. Chapter 11

The Mercy of Fortune

Summary: Mae found Sam, Dean took care of the duende. That's that, right?

Chapter 11

* * *

"Okay. C'mon big boy, work with me here." She lifted Sam's rather large frame, grasping under his arms. There was no way she was going to be able to pick him up, as awkward as that would have been. So she decided to let his ungodly long legs drag on the ground. "Okay, not much further." She told herself, considering her traveling partner was a useful as a sack of potatoes. Not much further to where, she wasn't sure. Getting him out of the cave was one thing. And to think, she had been grateful, after finding that the kids weren't in the cave, that Sam was.

The goblin's lair wasn't as large as she thought it would be. She only had to search for about 20 minutes before she found herself at a dead end. A dead end with a live Sam. He had the nerve to be unconscious however. She would have preferred him conscious for so many reasons even if his solution spared him from the worst the cavern had to offer. He was just too big in her opinion. Dragging him now, she wished he had never hit that growth spurt. He had been a cute, half pint back then. Now she might as well have been dragging a dead cow around with her.

She might have been able to lift Dean into a fireman's carry on a good day but she wouldn't have been able to sustain it for long. She couldn't carry either man the miles back to the car. Her body ached, more now that she was thinking about it and the considerations she needed to take into account.

They were miles and miles into the woods and at mid-day, nightfall would catch them before they made it out of there to the relative safety of Dean's car. "I swear to God..." She mumbled, "You're totally worthless here Sam." If it were from the fall, the exertion or the fact that her adrenaline had worn off, she was exhausted already. She was also well aware that she and the younger Winchester were making an awful racket and with him in this position, she had left herself completely open to an attack.

Why did this victory feel so much like a loss? She didn't know if or when the duende might come back. She didn't know if Dean found it. Hell, she didn't know if he was still alive. In spite of everything, she chuckled at the notion that the man would probably haunt her if she hotwired his damn car. It took much longer to drag Sam out of the cave than it did to find him. Fresh air and the promising light had Mae taking a relieved breath. She had to stop. This would take a great deal longer if she had to carry Sam through the forest on her own.

Right then, she simply couldn't go farther. Taking the opportunity for sunlight and rest, she lay Sam down with an unladylike grunt. He looked as if he had put up a fight at some point during his misadventure too. Scrapes, bruises and dirt colored his features too. The head wound was of more concern. It was older. The blood had dried, sticking some of his dark brown hair to his forehead.

Well, at least they would all look like a set Mae thought with some bitterness. A hot bath and a cold drink were in order but first she had to get the hell outta dodge. Kneeling now, she gave Sam a once over. He had wounds that would need cleaning and bandaging. Mostly he would just be sore from the bruising.

She had no way of knowing why he was unconscious but the cut was a good indication that he may well have a concussion. Right then, she hoped the small lucky streak she was on would hold out long enough for Sam to come to and walk his own ass out of the forest. Sitting back on her heels, her gaze wandered back up the steep embankment. Before there had been little luck that she would make it back up to solid ground that way. But with 190 pounds of useless on her hands, she'd be taking the long way home.

She brushed a hand through Sam's floppy hair. "Ah kiddo… when the hell did we all get so screwed up? I mean everything seems like it was stacked against us but wasn't there a time when it seemed like we might be okay?" Part of her really hoped he would respond or that she would get an answer from anyone at all. "Maybe not. Dude, you so need to wake up. You're unreasonably big, you know that right?" Mae shoved a hand through her hair, she had stopped trying to control it and it was a messy mass of red, dirt and leaves now.

Well, now was the time to prove she was the smart one right? If she couldn't MacGyver her way out of this, she had lost her touch. Searching the area, she was grateful to find Sam's pack and sleeping bag. His pack was still largely intact, as were the supplies he carried with him. His sleeping bag however wasn't so lucky. It wouldn't do him much good come nightfall but it gave her an idea. She searched out two long branches and with her few supplies, Mae fashioned a stretcher of sorts. She would still have to drag it but it would be much less strain on both her and Sam and would lend her slightly better mobility.

Mae sighed as she pulled the contraption over to the younger Winchester. She certainly had her fill of hauling that boy all over hell and back. Still, she grabbed his arms first and pulled him on to the stretcher, then moved to capture his legs and situate him on the apparatus. "God damn you're heavy." Having situated him now, she knelt next to him, going through her bag. Needing to occupy herself with something other hand her aching body, she tended to his wounds. She gasped slightly when his eyes popped open.

Sam came to, up and swinging. "Hey, hey! Calm down there." Mae's strong steady grip was on his arms. "It's just me." Sam tried to blink the haze out of his mind until the redhead's face came into view. She looked like she'd had just as big an adventure as he did. She leaned over him, red hair a tangled mess and her face and clothes streaked with dirt and blood. It was the prettiest damn face he'd seen in days. "Mae?" "Yeah." "Thank God." He crushed her in a bone-bending hug. "Dude--" She wheezed, "you need a shower." He laughed as Mae ran her hands through his shaggy hair playfully.

"C'mon Stretch, we have to find your brother now." She helped him into sitting position, stopping when he pressed his hand to his head. "Wait, no, there are more of them." She grabbed the pen light from her bag, checking his pupils as she spoke. "More of them? Well fuck me. Where are they?"

"I don't know… I've been kinda passed out. You didn't see anything?" Mae shook her head her hands still steadying him. He must have looked worse than she did. "Not since one of them got the jump on me an' Dean. After that, he went one way, I went the other and… well I found you at least." She batted his hand away as he moved to touch the wound on his head. "Shit." With a huff, Mae looked around, not sure if she should be worried or relieved that they were still alone. "Yeah. So… I guess we've still got a job to do."

"I have a theory." She looked skeptical. "I don't know that this is time for theories, Sam."

"So you and Dean figured out how to stop it then?" It was amazing how many expressions she and his brother shared sometimes, he though as Mae tilted her head and admitted that she didn't know. "Well, not exactly. When you went missing—" "Well, I think I know." He cut her off.

"Had sometime to figure it out while you were unconscious did ya?" Her smile was teasing but eyes serious. "Before that. I remember reading something about these duendes."

"Yeah, we read a shit ton of stuff and got nowhere." "Mostly nowhere. There was one thing, about them not being goblins so much as spirits." Sam corrected as he attempted to push himself up but found it a bit more difficult than he first thought. "Spirits of what?" Mae's hands were on his back and chest, trying to make him take it easy. "Unborn or unwanted children." Mae sighed, shaking her head. "So this forest is like walking limbo then?"

"Could be. Not that it helps us."

"Well, that might be good news. Spirits we can handle."

"Without bodies to salt and burn?" Mae grinned, patting his leg before she stood. "Roll with me Sammy, I'll show you all kinds of crazy."

* * *

Call it paranoia she thought, but she was thankful she had brought some 'emergency' supplies. "Are you sure this will work?" He asked over his shoulder "Not even slightly but we don't have a better idea." Sam nodded and watched her light the fire. It lit up the cave, reminding him why he didn't want to come back in. They didn't have that choice.

He and Mae began to prepare the space for the exorcism she claimed to know. Sam had his doubts that this would work but he didn't have any other ideas. Salting and buring wouldn't work because they had no idea who's spirits these might be and asking around for every lost or abandoned baby… they didn't have the time or resources. So Mae suggested this. The slender redhead had brought in the deadfall wood and brush she had found along with juniper branches.

Since Sam had seen more of the duendes than she had, she had him gather what was more likely to be their remains as she cleared a circle using one of the juniper branches. She fell into… well, he might have called it a trance but that seemed all too mystical for this. Maybe she was just falling into a pattern. She had built a stone ring and built the fire. It had been tiresome to work with only the dull glow of her flashlight and but the fire brought the cave into stark reality.

Exorcisms weren't his thing. They'd taken care of a number of spirits over the years and that one demon he had his brother had banished on the plane. It seemed Mae had a better idea of what she was doing. Her supplies weren't foreign: war water, exorcism powder, bundles of dried herbs for fumigation and of course the remains Sam had been gathering in the cave. The woman was pretty heavy into the craft it seemed. There weren't a lot of other choices and they had of course dabbled themselves.

He had been 14 the last time he'd seen her. When she had come back to see Dean, it was nearly 5 years later and he was off at college. It wasn't until now that he realized she wasn't just the skinny girl they'd spent their summers with. She was a full-grown woman and clearly a hunter in her own right. Whatever her connection to their father or her uncle didn't seem to tie her as they did his brother. Mae caught his eyes as he watched her. "What?"

"Nothing." He replied sheepishly as he went back to the task of gathering as much of the duendes he could sort out. "You have that 'Let's talk look.'" For some reason, the woman reminded him a little too much of Dean, bristling against real communication yet not quite able to keep up the façade. Sam frowned. "No I don't."

"Whatever man." She had given him his opening, hoping that if he took it the ritual would have cut him off before they got too deep into anything. "Why are you here?" She looked at him skeptically over the flames she had been casting into. "I told you; I ate it down that slope, found you and then you got this wild hair about these things being spirits."

"I meant hunting."

She paused as if he'd started speaking in a foreign tongue. "Hunting? I _am_ a hunter, just like you."

"I don't think either of us have to be."

"Well, listen, we can throw on some Edie Brickell, pour ourselves a glass of Chablis and weep about our tragic childhoods but right now, let's just kill these fuckers and get out of here, 'kay?" While some might have been offended by her brusque comment, he was only reminded of why Dean loved her. And he smiled.

"Okay, so how does this work." Mae raised an eyebrow. "Are you asking if we have to get naked and howl at the moon?" Sam offered a weak smile. "Well, this is a little more earth mother than hunter." Mae snorted. "You boy hunters are all the same. Not everything can be put to rest with the shot of a gun." He laughed, maybe it was the head injury. "That's funny, coming from you."

"Ah well, the whole thing's an art, not a science. And it's a shot in the dark. We could have a whole bunch of pissed off midgets in top hats on our hands in a few minutes."Sam sighed but readied the sawed-off shot gun, knowing that they only had limited rock salt rounds and that might not work. He just had to keep them off Mae long enough to let her finish the exorcism. "I remember living in a world when phrases like 'pissed of midgets in top hats' didn't come up." The woman smiled now too as she threw a handful of powder on the fire, filling the cave with the scent of sage.

"Sounds like a boring world to me."


	12. Chapter 12

The Mercy of Fortune

Chapter 12

* * *

Dean was sick and tired of this job. Even the wendigo was better than this. It wasn't just the freakin' goblin's, his missing brother, his missing father, the forest or even Mae. It was that he didn't have a good bead on any of it. He had dropped in the middle of this ocean with no clue where the shore was. So he just swam aimlessly, his least favored direction. Going the wrong way would have been far more preferable.

Sighing, he pulled a hand through his wet hair. Oh, this was so not worth it. It didn't matter what Sammy said, next stop he would be having fun by any means necessary. Sammy needed to have some fun too even if that was just… whatever that kid found fun these days. After Nebraska… Bloody Mary… they needed a break. Whatever Sammy's secret was… *crack*

Dean stopped, straightened. He held perfectly still, waiting for that sound again, any sound. Nothing was ever easy. It could be Mae and Sam but they weren't likely to sneak up on him. He closed his eyes and repressed a shudder as the thought about the limited list of things it could be.

Great, just great, he though as he was accosted by two more goblins. This was a bigger fight than any of them realized. No wonder they had been near impossible to pin down. He wasn't sure any more if he had killed the original duende that got the drop on he and Mae. This was much worse. Particularly because it meant, in all likelihood, that Mae and Sam were under similar attacks.

Or course Dean wasn't the sort of man to just roll over and die. He fought the only way he knew how: dirty and rough. The creatures were relentless and just when he thought he had the upper hand he would be back down on the ground, getting his ass kicked. "Fuck it." He didn't know if it would do any good but pulling the handgun from the back of his pants, he opened fire. Admittedly, it was a move more out of frustration than any real strategy. It might slow them down at any rate.

* * *

It wasn't surprising as Mae stared casting that the duende's started coming out of the wood work. She did not know exactly where they came from but there they were. Sam stepped in to the fight now, keeping her in the clear so she could finish her job. There couldn't have been more than 12 but it was an angry 12. Sam did his best to draw their attention towards him rather than Mae. The woman chanted as he fought the things off. She was disturbingly good at blocking out everything, even when the duendes started getting by Sam. She kept going although her rhythm was shot to hell, as she had to kick her tiny attackers away.

This wasn't going as well as she'd hoped. If she could finish the ritual without being torn apart, they'd be golden. God, she could used Dean's help here. For all his faults, he was good in a pinch and damn near ideal in a fight. Up to that point Sam had wisely been using the sawed off as a club but there were too many goblins… or spirits or whatever they were. And they bit. Hoping the salt rounds would do something more than just piss them off, the young man took aim and shot.

The shot was mind numbingly loud as it echoed in the cavern but Mae did not so much as cast a wayward glance at Sam. Keeping a hold of her book, she threw more of the exorcism powder on the fire as she chanted. It appeared to be weakening them, although not by much when there were so many. She just needed time. A few more minutes and this would either be over. Or they'd be dead. Either way, at least they weren't just running around in circles.

The duendes had realized that Sam wasn't the real threat. After all, the blunt force the taller man was exercising didn't exactly hit home. It probably angered them more than slowed them down. "Shit." At the curse in the exorcism ritual, Sam turned to look at her. Mae was on her knees, covered in the damn tiny creatures. She fought against them. He was at her side in seconds about to pull them off her. She had to finish. As he was about to come to her rescue, the redhead grabbed the nearest blunt object: a rock.

He watched with a mixture of astonishment and disgust as she bashed it against one of the creature's head. She didn't stop until the thing stopped moving. Sam wasn't given the opportunity to think more about it as the duendes continued to take him on as well. With his help, she was free enough to get her hands back on her book. Sam smirked. Mae certainly could hold her own. He should have been more worried about himself because while duendes had turned more attention on the redhead, he was not in the clear.

With a last prayer, she tossed the cloth containing the remains and herbs to conclude the spell into the fire as the onslaught of tiny fists and teeth pulled her down. Mae held her breath as the flame shot higher. Her eyes squeezed shut. And it stopped. With hesitation, she opened one eye and then the other. "Thank God," she muttered under her breath as she let her head rest again the cave wall.

The fire burned peacefully now, small pops and crackles that were almost calming at that point. The cave was otherwise quite. No more angry spirits. Mark that down as a success in the book. Letting her head roll to the side she saw Sam wasn't joining in her little celebration. He was passed out cold. "Well hell."

* * *

Dean opened his eyes to find himself splayed on the forest floor. Alone. Beat to hell. And soaking wet. "What the hell?" He hoped that this wasn't just some ploy, that Sammy had pulled it off and this was all over. He had never been so glad at the prospect of getting back to his real life, or whatever it was that he lived. He had to find his brother and Mae. The man had no plans of letting himself get taken by surprise again and he was not going to let it happen to Mae or Sam again.

There was no other way to go but in the direction, he has seen the slender redhead take off in. He would give his right arm for a satellite phone right now. He would find them, no doubt but there were no guarantees that they were safe or that those creatures were dead. From the time they were little, they were trained to track but also leave clues for the one of them to find. With any luck Mae still remembered or Sammy was with her. He hiked rather aimlessly until he noticed another sound. Relieved to know this wasn't an attack, he smiled.

Mae's discreet swearing was the sweetest sound he had heard this entire trip. Dean had no idea where or if he was going to find the young woman and his baby brother. It was a wide area to search and going on vague directions only, he knew he had a better chance of not finding them. How she had gotten over the ledge was still a mystery, he though as he peered over the side of the steep slope. He could have called out to her but watching her get his giant brother on that contraption was more amusing if she was unaware of him being there. They were both safe, which put him at ease although looked like they had been just as occupied as he had been. Besides, his energy was better spent finding a way down to them.

Dusting her hands off on her pants, Mae stood. She was fairly proud of herself and her ingenuity. Not that she could or would brag about it. She didn't exactly have a lot of other hash marks in the win column on this one. It wasn't as if she were lost, she thought cynically. No, Mae knew more or less where she was… just not the exact location or where she was going. They were hardly in the clear. Putting those duendes to rest had been the easy part she still had to take care of Sam and worry about Dean.

It was odd that she found herself worried about him. The man was competent, more than just competent really, as a hunter. But this was a tricky one and he wasn't thinking clearly. Part of that was her fault she knew. He was doing the same thing to her. The other part was his missing brother. While the lanky younger Winchester was no longer lost, Dean had no way to know that they weren't both dead. And she didn't know if the duendes had gotten the better of Dean. She needed Sam awake and somewhat cogent so they could get out of this.

They hadn't saved the kids but they had stop more from going missing. The hunters' mantra of 'you can't save everyone,' echoed in her head. It wasn't the way she had wanted this to go down. Mae sighed, casting a glance at Sam as she picked up one end of the makeshift stretcher and started to make her way off the mountain. He looked almost peaceful. Jerk.

At the sound to her side, she quite nearly dropped Sam. If they hadn't actually destroyed the duendes… Mae lowered Sam to the ground gently as she crouched, trying to make it look discreet as she slid the wicked looking knife out of her boot. She didn't even know if it would help her but all of her other weapons were in her bag and not so easy to reach. Waiting a moment for the rustling again, she turned with the knife ready to strike.

A relieved sigh deflated her body when she realized it was only Dean. "Fuck sake, Dean." She wasn't about to tell him that he'd scared her so she just took in his disheveled appearance. "What the hell have you been doing?" "Went for a swim. You?" She tucked the knife back into her boot, stood back up before resting a fist on her hip. "We were busy saving the day. You look like crap." He was covered in mud and water from the river although she was certain she didn't look much better. "Yeah and you'll win the beauty pageant yourself."

Mae had taken a spill down that hill she had thought wasn't any big deal. When her feet when flying out from under her, she was glad that little goblin had gone to lengths to separate them because while she might end up toeless or dead, at least she wouldn't have to listen to Dean laugh at her. Now, her red hair stuck out at odd angles from of her hair clip, dirt and what she hoped was mud scattered her face and ripped clothing. "I'm no Ned Beatty but I have my charms."

She was a weird girl but he laughed all the same. "How's Sam?" "He's total and complete dead weight. But I think he'll be okay. I mostly wanted to get him out of here before examining him but cursory, he's just unconscious." Dean wasn't sure. "Did you take care of them? There's more than one you know." "Yeah, I got that. Turns out they were spirits. We laid down some mojo and took care of the lot of 'em." The girl sighed.

"Why don't you help me lug his ass back to camp?" "Camp?" He asked as he went to help her pick up his brother. "We are not going back to camp. Even though those things are dead, we're getting the hell outta here." Dean took the lead as he had found the way down to the gulley. He would have been satisfied getting out of their as fast as possible. Mae just had to argue.

"Hey pal, I'm all for outta here but maybe you notice it took us a day and a half to get this far and we won't be making any land speed records with your brother outta commission. Dead goblins or not I'm not making this hunt perfect by getting us lost in the woods. You know, more lost." He hated when she was right but she was. "Fine. You couldn't have found a more inconvenient place to have this little lie down." She glowered even though she knew he was only trying to get a rise out of her.

Mae was going to take the high road but still felt the need to complain about something as they made their way to higher ground. "Dude you brother is freakish. Who gets this big?" Dean smiled all the same, glad she couldn't see the grin. No one could call Dean or Mae short compared to the general population but his 'little' brother towered over them both. "Aw, c'mon teamwork, Red." "Teamwork my ass." She grumbled but felt better about this whole hunt than she had in days.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

"Well… this is just dandy." She threw the empty pack to the ground with a huff. "C'mon Mae, we'll be heading out in the morning. Only a few hours out here. You're a tough girl." That far too delicate eyebrow arched as she shot him a deadly stare. "I'm a girl who doesn't like her stuff being torn to hell by some… spirits and a pair of…" She cut herself off. She was just angry and there was no point taking it out on Dean. He was actually being decent, downright sweet, for Dean anyway. With another huff, she pushed the annoyance away. 'Be nice,' she chided herself mentally.

They had both gone about their separate tasks setting up camp until she had examined the state of their supplies. Mae definitely took better care of her toys and after all this he could not blame her for being pissed that both he and Sam had demolished or lost their sleeping bags. She had finally gotten her hair under control as was already messing it back up by dragging her hand through it roughly.

Trying not to fight with him was nearly worse than fighting with him. Maybe if she clocked him, she might feel better. That wasn't exactly true. She would only feel better for a while and then much worse. It was easier to focus on something else, someone else. Mae would look after Sam for a while as she got herself back to neutral. Mae sighed as she stood back up, decided the young man was as good as he was going to get out here.

It was crazy; Dean knew that but as crazy as it was, he was jealous again. She took care of his brother with what looked like tenderness and professionalism. He had to like that. Few people he would judge capable of looking after his brother but Mae did. Her hands were gentle, efficient and hypnotic as the examined Sam's body. Dean couldn't help but want them on him. He shook his head. It was better not to pay attention. He finished building the fire and finding enough wood to keep it going until sunrise.

"You're lucky I'm a lady." She grumbled to his unconscious form as she took her sleeping bag from her pack and unrolled it for Sam. Dean smiled. It shouldn't have surprised him that she would put Sam first, just like he would. That's how they were raised. They worked together to get Sam's long frame in their remaining sleeping bag. Dean planned to look at her next. Her wounds weren't serious but they could get infected.

But after Sammy was settled, she turned back to the fire. Grabbing her bag, she took out those camping supplies he had made fun of her for at first. On the night of their second day, he was grateful that she had brought food and all the rest. She set up a pan to boil water in and prepare them something to eat. She had brought these nifty meals, not unlike the MREs his father had occasionally forced them to eat, but much better. She took two out, in preparation for the boiling water.

She also took out a small jar he hadn't seen before. Mae opened the lid and poured some of the powder into her hand before scattering it into the fire. It took a moment before the scent reached him but it was one of those few things about this work that was still comforting, almost reassuring. Sweet spirit powder. God, he hated the fact that he liked her. It was the weirdest things too. He raised an eyebrow as she said something: a blessing, prayer, or even a spell. He didn't say anything about it, just finished tucking Sammy in for the night.

"She's full on nuts but she's pretty hot." He said so only Sam could hear, or would have if he were awake. Why he liked her was more than evident when they weren't fighting. He had plenty of reasons to hate her and he wouldn't have given it a second though if he had. But hate wasn't there. Anger, hurt, jealousy: those feelings were and sometimes ran so strong he could hardly see through it. Other times, his heart filled with tenderness for the woman. _Those_ feelings had been there a great deal longer than anything else had.

Acting on those feelings, he stood and crossed to her. Mae's eyes went wide as if she had been expecting him to simple lay down and go to sleep. "What happened here?" He took her chin in his hand despite her struggling to pull away. "Those things get the best of you?" Mae sighed, trying to shrug off the unwanted attention. "No. I found the cave by doing a face plant down a mountainside. Must have caught my jaw." He caught her eyes in an attempt to figure out what exactly she was trying to do. There were no answers there.

"It's a pretty nasty cut Mae." He ducked to examine it, his hold on her impossible to escape. "It's fine." There was fire in her eyes. He didn't have to look at her to know it was there. "No, it's not. Cool off, okay?" Frowning made her look more like a petulant child that the tough hunter she was at heart. It was a bad sign that he found it adorable. "Just hold still and I'll fix you up. You can't do it yourself."

"I don't need your help." For a moment he was so close she could feel his breath on her neck. His rough fingers trailed so tenderly and lightly over her cheek, around the wound that she had to repress a shiver. She didn't want him this close to her. "Bullshit. You may not want it but you need it. C'mon I'm not that bad. I don't have your fancy training but I'm good with my stitches. Don't worry, I won't mess up that pretty face of yours." Dean had a way of flirting at the most inopportune times.

"I'm not _that_ vain." She would have taken the scar if she could have gotten away from this version of Dean. "Then what's the problem? Me?" Subtlety was not an art he had mastered when interacting with this particular woman. It was worse that he was right. It might have been different if Sam was fixing her up. Mae would have much rather been fighting. Or almost anything. His eyes were on her, full of concern and something else she refused to name.

"I can't pretend that everything is okay." Dean was surprised she had said anything. She usually played things closer to the chest and her confession seemed genuine. "It's not. That doesn't mean I'm gonna let you have your face ripped open. It was always a pretty face too." Self-conscious with this near intimacy, Mae attempted to shift away again. He was gentle yet strong as he held her chin and brushed the wayward clumps of hair away from her face. The fire wasn't the best light to work by so sitting her down on a nearby rock, he grabbed the flashlight from her things.

Dean set it on the ground, angled so that he could work easier. "I…" Mae stopped as he touched her again, sensing she was about to make a break for it. She realized however, there was nowhere for her to go. "Mae, I don't want to fight anymore, particularly about the shit we've been fighting about. I don't have it in me anymore, okay?" He didn't keep eye contact with her and took his hand from her face to search out the first aid kit. A slight confusion set upon her face.

His expression was so far away when he returned to her. Their eyes finally met; there was sadness, longing and something still unspeakable between them. It wasn't the hurt and betrayal they both felt that led to one too many fights. It was that part of the fight neither wanted to deal with. "Tilt your head back for me, sweetheart." She did.

Dean went to work, cleaning the dried blood from her chin and neck. A fair amount had run down her shirt but he knew Mae would not be appreciative if he ran the cloth between her breasts. There had only been a small intake of breath through her nose as the cold sheet pre-moistened with alcohol touched the open wound. He had not expected more, even if it had hurt like hell Mae would not have cried out.

The cut wasn't as bad as the blood had indicated. Butterfly sutures would do the job. "Make sure to use the--" Dean cocked an eyebrow at her as he held the bottle of tincture of benzoin up for her to see. "I'm not just another pretty face Mae. And for the record," He said as he opened the bottle and poured some on a cotton pad to dab the cut with, "You sure as hell don't hit like a girl anymore." With a sigh, a sigh twined with a subtle laugh, she let her defenses fall just a bit. "Yeah? Well, you take a punch with the best of them."

It only took a few more minutes before he had cleaned up her face and applied the bandages. Far too long for Mae's tastes as it brought the man close enough for her to see his freckles. Mavis stood, dusting of her old pants in a vain gesture. A fair share of holes and rips scarred the fabric. Now they were dirty and bloodied but so was the rest of her. And now so was Dean. But it didn't matter. Walking a fair enough distance from him in the small space, she realized there was nothing to do until the water was boiling.

She watched the fire with intense focus as if she could make the time go faster by doing so. It occurred to her then that perhaps she was in over her head. A promise made to John Winchester was not one easily broken. There were certain things that were difficult to unlearn. Despite everything, she thought that she might still march into hell on his orders.

This life hadn't been forced upon her the same it was on Sam and Dean. She had never understood why. Robert Singer was just as devoted to hunting as the patriarch of the Winchester clan was and he had trained her well. But she wasn't meant to be a soldier, at least not if her uncle had his way. The draw of the hunt however felt as if it were in her blood. She had taken to it. Had Bobby just let things be and not taken her in, not showed her how to protect herself she might have lived the life he had wanted for her.

The only problem was, she was a hunter. No amount of good intentions or separation of her life took that first hunt out of her mind or turned her heart. When Dean offered her the retort pouch, she started. She wasn't certain how long she had been thinking but clearly she wasn't exactly there. Dean didn't mention anything, just offering her a slight smile and sat next to her. They couldn't go back. Right then she didn't feel particularly like talking. They ate in silence and Mae hoped to keep it that way.

It was painfully silent. The fight was over, the danger had passed and the case wrapped up essentially. It didn't feel done. With any luck the hike back to the car would be uneventful. Sam would wake up, they'd get back to the motel and this would all be just another episode of their lives, hardly memorable. That didn't sit right with Dean. Mavis was a chapter in his life that he could never seem to finish. He had her alone for the first time in a long time. It was an opportunity he wasn't going to let pass.

If only he knew what to say to her. He found himself unusually awkward with the woman. Actually with Mae he was always somewhat ill at ease. For all his prowess, all his charms he was reduced to his barest elements with her. It used to be a good thing. Now he felt empty because of it. Because she didn't seem to be affected the same way anymore.

"You don't have to stay up with me." They had been sitting there for at least half an hour after they had finished eating in that silence before the redhead spoke. His gaze focused back towards her. "Yeah well… I can't sleep." It was true but all he could do was sigh. He should have just gone to sleep, left it alone but that wasn't his style. "You should try and sleep Mae. It's a long hike back tomorrow even with Sammy on his feet."

"I know. I'm the one who told you that." Mae couldn't stifle the yawn and Dean looked back at her. "Get some sleep Maeby." Her face fell and she shot him a contemptuous glance. It surpassed anger and hit somewhere between hatred and scorn. "Oh you're not gonna start up calling me that are you?" He smiled back. "What's wrong with it?" He could see that she wasn't all that mad really, just annoyed and perhaps a bit embarrassed.

"A, it's an adverb and b… it's just so… I'm not a kid anymore." In the same way Sam didn't like being called Sammy, Mae didn't care for being called Mavis or Maeby or anything other than Mae. "I noticed." That caused her to frown. Dean had meant it but perhaps it came off as too shallow, like he was trying to get somewhere with her. He wasn't. It was however difficult not to see all the changes. Still, he had her talking now and wasn't going to shut it down.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

A/N-Okay, here's a longer chapter. I hope you enjoy. The Mercy of Fortune is nearing its end but I have a sequel in the works so let me know if you think I should keep going! (Or even if you've had enough of Mae)

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"Thank you for finding Sam" Dean was sincerely grateful. This hunt might have gone down differently if it were just him and his brother working it. In all likelihood though, it would have been more difficult with less than three people and he might not have found his brother at all. "I was just doing my job." Dean Winchester knew that game by heart, played it far too often. There were times he wanted her to be a little colder and detached but now wasn't one of them. "You can't even take a complement, a thank you?"

"I don't need to give me one. I would have done the same for anyone else." "So because it was me, my brother, what, you had to go to extra effort? Damn, Mae. Do you really hate me that much?" The man couldn't let it be. She was trying to disengage. In a few hours, she could put this behind her. Whatever it had been, there were only uncomfortable emotions tied to this family for her now.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yeah. Great." As if he needed more reason to hate camping. He didn't know what he had expected. Of course, it was over. He had known as much for a long time, not as long as Mavis it seemed. But now, it felt closer to done. It was good he supposed; he had always had questions as to how she felt. She gave him some answers, not real ones but she was stubbornly refusing to look at the situation. He still had questions but didn't care as much about the answers. Mae was cold now, distant and different. It was understandable after this many years, doing this job that she would have become a different woman.

Why the hell did any of that matter to him? It was obvious that she had stopped loving him a long time ago; he was just too dumb to realize it. He didn't need her to hit him again to prove that. "I don't hate you Dean." Anywhere other than the silence of forest, he might not have heard her. He didn't have more to say but he looked from the fire to the redhead. "I've never been able to hate you."

Regarding her in the yellowy light, he knew that he couldn't bring himself to give her up. She could walk all over him time and time again. He only hoped now that he was wise enough to not let her. That didn't mean that he couldn't use it. "Yeah, I tried pretty hard too." She gave a slightly self-depreciating laugh next. "To hate me or you?"

"You. I wanted to. I wanted to hate dad too but I didn't." Dean sighed. He knew this was his last chance. She would take off and next time the need to reconnect came up, he knew she would ignore it. He could get the answers to the most important questions and risk nothing by being honest with her. Maybe she would see the same. "Mae… what went wrong?"

"Well, we got our asses handed to us by a midget in a hat… of all the part of the lore that were true, I didn't think that would have been one of them."

"I meant with us."

"Oh… yeah well… lots." Her eyes went back to the fire and even from her profile, he could see the wheels turning in her mind. "That's an understatement." They fell into silence again. Mae wasn't sure what she expected. A lot had gone wrong, a long time before she had hurt him so badly. She knew that he was in the dark about most of it. He knew the major details but clearly no one had bothered to give him more than the broad strokes. Did he need to know? Did he want to know? There was at least a decade of incidents, seemingly happenstance or bad fortune that Dean took as such. Mae knew differently.

Dean wasn't going to forgive her. She didn't need him to forgive her because she didn't feel guilt over the happening. Despite her claims to the contrary, she knew he loved her. And she had loved him, with all her heart. He hadn't been the only person she had loved. There had been others but never quite like Dean. Mae turned her head to look at him. His eyes were closed but he wasn't asleep. She didn't expect him to sleep.

Watching him, she marveling at how calm he could look sometimes. He was quite handsome too, always had been. Mae allowed herself a small smile. He looked rather rugged with his two-day-old stubble, shadows and light from the fire playing against his features. His ragged appearance did not detract from the package. Hell he played perfectly into that long-standing fantasy of a knight in shining armor. Only her knight didn't ride a white horse or act particularly courtly. He was a good guy with a bad boy patina.

She was not supposed to still feel this way about him. At this point in her life, he shouldn't have had any effect on her. Then again, it was clear they had a mutual affect on each other. Mae could see Dean's confusion. For her, the buildup had been gradual, little things that had changed her in the time they spent apart. Dean had no way of knowing exactly what had happened to her. For as much as he knew about the realities of the world, what was _really_ out there, he assumed she lived in a sheltered world. Mae never had. They had never gotten the chance to know each other as adults. Things might have been different if they had taken the opportunity but that was another thing they couldn't change.

There were not any questions on what had driven that final wedge between them. It hadn't been a big deal at the time, not for her. She couldn't explain it. In reality, it should have bothered her more, now and then. And then Dean showed up. While there could have been a million explanations, there was only one and they all knew it. No one said anything. After that, she left, tired to forget about the whole thing. It didn't solve anything with the situation she found herself in with Dean. There wasn't anything she could do to fix it either. How did you come back from that soap opera situation? How could she explain what had happened? There was an extent to what even Dean would believe.

His eyes opened then and seemed to pin her, which sank like a stone in her stomach. If he could tell what was running around in her mind she didn't get an indication of it. "You should get some sleep." He repeated. His voice was a little rough and it made her smile. "Could you sleep out here?" A little laugh and slight smile was his response before he got up and moved closer to her.

She didn't bother hiding the surprised expression but made no point of it when he sat next to her. "I thought you liked camping." Dean could make nice, he wanted to he reminded himself. "I used to. When it was me and Bobby and you, your dad and Sam… it used to be fun. Now the only time I go out into the woods is to hunt. And things become much less fun when something's trying to kill you back."

"You got me there."

"I always thought you would like camping. I never got why you didn't." Exhaustion colored her words, as did a new feeling of openness. It was hard to carry so much around especially when he seemed able to say or do just the right thing to set her off."It's cold, your bed is rocky and there is a distinct lack of attractive women out here. No thanks sweetheart, I'll take a motel any night."

She chuckled. "Well… I wish I had more small talk. I rarely have to make it."

"Me either. Can I ask you something serious?" He gauged her reaction to the simple inquiry; she was tense and on edge. "Serious?" Mae let out a long sigh. "I don't know Dean, I'm not too big on serious either."

"I mean it." There wasn't any question what it was about and hell, at least out here they could yell as loud as they wanted. The woman relented since there wasn't a point in fighting. "Fine, go ahead."

"What's that tattoo on your back?" She almost laughed at that. "The tattoo? It's a tattoo, Dean." Not what she expected him to bring up. Actually, since their all out fight, he had not directly started in on the one subject she couldn't seem to get off her mind. He couldn't have shifted gears that easily. "I can see that. What's it mean?" Mae let herself snicker now.

"It means I got tattooed once." Evasiveness suited her somehow but that didn't mean he liked it. Damned if he wasn't once again torn between affection and annoyance with her all over again. But it was only a few moments before she sighed. "I spent some time in Thailand and Cambodia a few years back."

Dean offered her an expression between disbelief and amazement. Mae had gotten herself a little life, not normal perhaps but a life. He had been thinking about that more now that Sam was back hunting. He could see just how happy his brother had been having a real life. Was Mae? Had she been pulled out of that life she used to have too? So many questions came to mind with that one little fact. "You spent some time in Cambodia?"

"That's what I just said isn't it?" Even though Mae didn't succeed in keeping the sharpness out of her voice Dean didn't notice. He appeared downright entranced with her now. "Yeah but… you act like it was just so casual, like everyone spends some time in Cambodia." Mavis shrugged. "Well Dean, maybe you'll reach a point in your life one day where you need to find something more in life. And maybe you'll find that something more somewhere you didn't expect to find it."

"For you that was Cambodia?" It occurred to him that this was something he should have known about her. He didn't even know that she had wanted to travel. Sure, their families had been all over the U.S. except Hawaii. Dean knew Mae liked the open road like he did but he hadn't thought about going anywhere you couldn't drive. Cambodia had been a draw for her, why on earth was that? "And Thailand."

"So you flew like…thousands of miles to get some ink?" Mae shifted against the tree trunk, letting her eyes pass from Dean, to the fire, and to Sam for a moment. Surely, they could be discussing something else. This was too personal. "It's call a yant and it's not just a tattoo. Yantra is… spiritual, okay? I worked hard to get this."

"Tell me about it."

"You'll just make fun of me."

"No I won't."

"That's all you do."

"I can do other things Mae."

"Whatever." They argued like children sometimes. Bickering always seemed to crop up between the two even when they were getting along. It wasn't even an argument but she knew they couldn't have a normal conversation. Even an abnormal conversation wasn't easy to come by.

"Mae you know…" He wasn't sure what exactly he was going to say to her. Was there even anything to say? He could charm a woman but he wasn't trying to charm Mae right then. He could talk to people on a case but he didn't have an innate gift for gab and he wasn't the sort to have deeply soulful conversations. With Mae, one of those could end bloody. Still, he wasn't able to find anything to say that didn't end up annoying one or the other of them. He wanted, for a reason he couldn't put his finger on, to be friends with her again.

"What?" She finally asked, pausing as if she didn't want to know. "Nothing." Tolerant was not a word often applied to the lanky redhead. "Then why did you say something?" It was asked under her breath for the most part but loud enough for Dean to hear. "I just thought that maybe we could try and get along. We used to get along."

"Yeah but we've both said and done things that we can't change."

"So that's it? You're fine with things like this?" After a hesitant pause, she answered. "No. I'm not."

"Then maybe we should… try and work it out." Dean tried to think up the number of things he could tell her that would merit the 'you're crazy' look from the young woman as that statement had. It was an incredibly short list. "You wanna talk? To me? About the past?" More emphasis rested on each statement as she said them, plumbing the darkness for the reason Dean was being so chatty.

He shrugged it off like it was no big deal even though his stomach was doing summersaults at the prospect of a genuine conversation with the woman. "Yeah, that such a bad thing?"

"Well, I've seen stranger things but not by much." Dean knew it went against his 'no chick flick moments' rule but it was just the two of them now and he _needed_ to know. "Funny. So…" He trailed off, not sure how to start.

There wasn't anything more that could be done to avoid the conversation and fighting about it was pointless. All she could do would be honest and as genuine as she could. Mae knew that the issues were different for both of them. He care about a different side of this and she would address that first. "What are you looking for Dean? What is it that you want me to say about… everything?"

"I don't know. Just tell me why?" It should have mattered. Even if Mae didn't care about him, or their relationship she should have cared that his dad was almost like her Dad. John Winchester had treated the girl just as he did his own kids. Except for the sex part. "Dean… I don't have a why."

"So you just…screwed Dad because you could?" Dean actively tried to avoid thinking about the act. He hadn't walked in on them together but… it was good enough. They were both half-dressed and he knew that 'I made a big mistake' look that came with hasty sex. All the same, there was a reason they both did it and even a painful answer would have been better than nothing. "No. Have you ever… c'mon, Dean you know sometimes things just fly out of control and one moment your doing one thing and the next…"

"You're fucking your boyfriend's dad?"

Dean was more blunt than most but the words still hurt. "It wasn't like that. You and I were not together and it wasn't even about sex. The sex was just--"

"I really don't wanna hear about what screwing my dad was like for you."

"I wasn't about to tell you. I'm trying to tell you why. It's not a simple answer. It wasn't because I wanted John. It wasn't because I wanted to hurt you. I didn't want either of those things, particularly hurting you."

He wanted to believe that. Hell, if he could have he would have believed it didn't happen. If she could just tell him it was all in his mind, that it was a spell or he was drunk… anything. "Well…"

"Dean, I don't expect you to forgive me okay? I know… I know whatever happens, your family comes first so--" Mae wanted to reach out for him, not because she needed him to tell her it was okay but because she wanted him to know it wasn't him. It's not you, it's me was simply too trite to attempt to tell him even if it were true for her.

"You're an idiot Mae." She looked at him, annoyed. As she opened her mouth to retort the statement, Dean continued. "You _were_ family sweetheart. I loved you." She looked down at her hands and replied quietly. "I know."

"You knew?" Her brow was raised in an irrefutable way. "Because I'm not an idiot. I knew you loved me, I loved you too but… don't you see Dean, we never could have had anything real."

"What?" Was that what this was about? Dean had reached that place a long time ago even when he was still with her. They weren't white picket people and maybe he never would have married her but he would have loved her. That was as tangible as anything else was. He believed it because he had seen it.

There was more than a little venom in her tone. "What, you think we would have lived happily ever after?" Perhaps not happily ever after but damned if he didn't know that she was closer to him than almost anyone ever had been. "No… but maybe happy then."

"You're wrong, we wouldn't have been." Mae sounded just as certain about that as he was about his perspective. They would have been happy, he knew in his soul. What had messed her up, he wondered. "You're so sure?" He double-checked.

"Yeah."

"So to make certain, you slept with my dad?" It was an unfair jab. He wanted to strike back just a little because he knew he could have stepped up for her, he knew he would have. Mae's face contorted and she tried to compose herself. "No… I don't know. Not on purpose. We fought and… it happened."

Her explanation sounded strained. As Sam had put the question in his mind, he needed to know now. "Dad didn't… force you, did he?"

"What? No. Not like that." Her startled response was a comfort. The idea that his father would force any woman, let alone Mae was something he didn't know if he could deal with. Still he didn't like the other half of her statement. "Not like that? What does that mean?"

"It means that while I wasn't angling to get down with your old man, I didn't stop him."

"Did you want him to stop?" Her breath came out sharp but she didn't speak right away. "It's not like it lasted hours. It happened and it was like neither of us were in control. I just used it, okay?" There was a story there and maybe Dad was the only one who had the answers. Mae wasn't giving them. "Why?" Dean inquired. "You still loved me and I didn't want you to."

"That's messed up." Her smile in the dim light was both sad and disconcerting. "I am the queen of screwed up." Maybe she was. The woman had changed. Something cold and dark was a part of her now and it brought up a feeling of compassion he hadn't anticipated. "You could have found someone else."

She shook her head. "I wasn't looking to end it that way. You've got this all wrong. I didn't want sex. I just wanted… I wanted out." Dean frowned, scooting a little closer. She had to be out of her mind because this wasn't exactly making sense to him. "Out? You came back to get out?"

She was on guard now, predicting the fight that wasn't coming. "I thought I owed you something." Owed? That made him laugh a little too much. "Ha… if that's how you pay your debts…"

She looked at him earnestly. It was hard to make out the look in her eyes but they looked rimmed with tears she wouldn't let fall. "I couldn't do it. When I saw you, when you kissed me… I couldn't go through with what I had set out to do. We fought… you screwed that girl--"

Dean interrupted her recount of that night. "I didn't screw her."

"She was sucking on your--"

"Yeah, but that was it." Mae shook her head. "Well you wanna call it sex or not, I still--"

"That's not why you let dad--"

"No. Is it easier if that were the reason?" Dean thought for a moment. He had certain found that nameless girl to ease his pain at being rejected by Mae. When she caught them, it twisted that knife of guilt a little more. If it had been another man with her that night, revenge sex, would that have made a difference? "Not really."

"Good. Because maybe you can't believe it but… my wanting to leave and my screwing your dad, those were two separate things. I know it doesn't look like it but if you had been on that hunt… you might understand better." She looked honest and God, he wanted to believe it. Maybe he could.

"Life leads you in certain directions, Dean. You can't always prepare for them like a good soldier. Mine was leading you away from..." From what, she couldn't tell him. "From me?"

Nor could she lie to him. Besides, the cards were on the table and she was in no mood to fight the moment. "Partly."

"I would have gone anywhere you wanted."

Mae laughed a bit. "Dean." There was something so sweet about the young man under all the gruffness. No amount of bravado could hide it and she knew it would break that young man's heart all over again. "I didn't want that. You had just as much right to live your own life too. We needed to go our separate ways."

He sighed, wanting her to know just what they had lost. Not what he had lost, or even what she had lost but what they had lost. "I've never felt the way I felt about you again." She did not want to get into this with him but he deserved to know how she felt. "Likewise."

The words came pouring out next, despite his desire to be uncompromising. "I've missed you Mae, okay? I know I should hate you for what you did--"

"What I did? You can't--"

"Jesus woman, let me finish a thought for once!" He sighed, waiting for her to butt in but she was quite. "But I don't. For the most part, I don't even care, not any more. I mean, you screwed my dad but he was part of it too so… you're an adult, you can sleep with whoever you want but… I didn't think it was over until that night."

Mae had an issue with that. They both liked to look at their relationship as something more refined than it was but the truth was neither of them was prepared for it. "Dude, I caught you with another girl. We were always so careless with each other. Don't romanticize it. When I was 16, yeah I thought I'd be with you forever. But… we're not exactly forever people, are we?"

"I guess not." He didn't believe it even as he said it. Arguing with Mae on this would go nowhere. She had already made up her mind. They had both screwed up, he knew that but he wondered if there was still something there. There was for him on some level. Just looking at her, a myriad of emotions washed over him, some pleasant others not. He could not believe that it was so one sided.

But that was something for another night. Right now, he realized he had gained something. Mae was a woman he could work well with, he could even trust and he surely had feeling for her still. His heart was nearly as stubborn as he was and hadn't let her go. He would believe that something had happened that he did not know about. The redhead might even tell him just not tonight. Dean was sure there was something between them that could be salvaged if he didn't push her a direction she didn't want to go.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

* * *

It was quiet now as they both stared passed the light casted by the fire, into the darkness. Dean found himself needing to sort out how he felt. Maybe Mae didn't have the answers he wanted. Maybe things had just _happened_ between her and his dad. He didn't entirely believe that because neither of them were careless people, maybe thoughtless sometimes but not careless. He trusted both of them, almost without question. It had been a strange occurrence and as much as it hurt him, he had pushed it down so far he could barely feel anything around it. Having her around didn't help with that.

Yet some strange impulse told him to keep her close. He could deal with their issues though. He didn't know precisely why. The sane thing to do would be never talk to the woman again. She wasn't exactly the easiest woman to get along with and no matter how fond of her he was, she didn't seem to reciprocate. Still… he knew the facts of the situation and his feelings hadn't changed. If anything, he had softened more towards her.

Mae dozed, not quite asleep yet. But Dean wasn't taking any chances on not letting her sleep. Shifting to put his coat over both of them, he pull her closer. His arm slung over her shoulders. "What are you doing?" "Oh get over it Mae. It's cold." There was more than a little satisfaction in having her so close. He smoothed her hair down but resisted kissing the top of her head. It wasn't as if their heart to heart had mended all the rifts in their relationship. He still had so many questions but it had helped. It left him feeling a little less screwed up about it.

Normally, it would have opened the door to make up with her but it seemed hollow. And weird with Sam there. In all honesty, he admitted to himself, he didn't want to have sex with her that night. Mae was attractive and all, peaked his interest in ways other girls didn't and couldn't but fantasies aside, it didn't feel right. If he had realized anything about the slim redhead, it was that she was broken. The years apart had not been kind to her. A part of him wanted to take care of her because of that.

If someone had asked her, Mae would have claimed it was because she was tired, sore, cold and just not ready for another fight. Even if it tended to be her who started the fights. That might have been true but she worried the reality was because it was Dean. He was distractingly warm and while he smelled as if they had spent a number of days in the woods, there was something almost comforting about it. They both fell into sleep with ease.

* * *

They had somehow slid to the ground, away from the safe backing of the tree. He had made a pillow out of her bag and they now tangled together under the coat. Mae curled against his body in a way that had to be indecent in this state. It made him smile. If his body wasn't beginning to alert him to the discomfort of sleeping on a forest floor, he might have let himself enjoy it. He might have even relished in her embarrassment in discovering this lapse in her façade. He might have if he didn't know that it was being caught getting close to him that would be the source of the blush on her pale cheeks.

Dean eased her shapely leg from its draped position over his lower body and nudged her into a sitting position. Mae groaned, grabbing at his shirt and pressing her face deeper into his chest. Whatever she mumbled was assuredly profane but it made him smile nonetheless. "Rise and shine Princess." That made her head shoot up, sleepy blue eyes narrowed at him. She looked almost cute. "Princess?" "Sparky?" Was his retort. Those red lips puckered as she contemplated giving up the nickname that she had decided to bestow upon him. Deciding she could live with 'Princess' knowing that 'Sparky' got under his skin, she dropped it and pushed away.

Somehow, she managed to look pretty he thought. Her spine and joints popped in protest as she got to her feet finally. They had slept in earlier today than the last but it was nowhere near late. The fire had burned down to embers although seeing as the sun was officially up it didn't matter. Dean stood now too, not particularly relishing the kinks and aches that pervaded his frame.

Dean's eyes swept over the area. Everything was in place, much better than last time he woke up. Sam was still asleep and they were all in one peace. Plus there was an almost hopeful feeling that greeted him this particular morning. His eyes lingered on the woman as she retreated presumably to take a leak or something he would prefer not to dwell on. He didn't want to assign it all to Mavis but it was clearly more than just the end of a case.

With a sigh and a scrubbing hand to his face he went to wake Sam. He wanted to get the hell out of the forest as soon as possible."Hey, Sleeping Beauty, rise and shine."

There was affection as Dean nudged his brother's sleeping form with his boot gently. The younger Winchester groaned, throwing his arm over his face. "Dude knock it off." As if suddenly realizing that Dean towered over him or the ground was nowhere near as comfortable as an all too uncomfortable motel bed, his eyes eased open.

"Uh, I wish this were a dream." He groaned.

His brother chuckled. "No such luck. How you feelin'?"

"Terrible."

Sam sat up. He did feel terrible. Pinpointing what hurt more would not have been an easy task as everything hurt. Maybe Dean would let him rest for at least one day. Maybe Mae could distract him somehow. Although with his brother he wasn't sure he wanted to know what that way might end up being. The pair might have been fighting but you didn't have to look hard to see there was something there, under all the hurt and anger something tangible.

Discouraged, Sam ran a hand through his hair. It could be the only two who couldn't see it were the two who needed to see. It wasn't as if he could be comfortable with the love of his life banging his Dad. Dean had every right to be pissed off at that but that didn't change the way he looked at her. His brother was in love with the odd, uncouth, brutal, lovely and lanky redhead.

He had a huge bump on his head. It was among his more annoying injuries as he touched it every time her raked his hand through his hair and it throbbed. He was achy, tired, hungry and very, very ripe. Yeah, this was like being a kid all over again.

"Where's Mae?" Sam asked as she unzipped the sleeping bag and rose to his feet, hoping to roll some of the tension out of his neck. A sharp whistle brought both their attention to the other side of the clearing. "Right here, Mop Top." "Mop Top? Sam questioned to his brother, who did not help matters with his cocky smile and shrug.

"Frank, Joe—let's go." That merited a confused glance and shrug between the boys. Mae didn't explain any of her comments knowing Sam would probably look it up and be slightly insulted by the Hardy Boys reference when she was long gone. The woman just turned on her heel and began packing up the site. It would be night by the time they made it back to the motel but that was fine as long as they made it back. It almost looked like a run of the mill camping trip they were coming back from, aside from their appearance. Tattered, torn, bloodied, they made quite a set.

It was an uneventful hike back to the car, a veritable bastion of leather, metal and gasoline in Mae's opinion. Much preferable to the harsher realities of their forest experience. The trio was just as quiet on the drive back into town until they pulled up in front of the motel where the Winchester's were staying. The trio sat awkwardly, no one talking and no one getting out of the car yet. Sam broke the silence with a polite cough. "I… I'm gonna… go inside, like now."

That left Mae and Dean alone as they watched Sam get out of the back seat and into the room. There were so many reasons she would have rather gotten the back seat and she had called the younger man some colorful names when he beat her to it. In any other mood she would have bolted and put as much distance between her and Dean as possible. But she was tired, not just physically. She was tired and lonely. It was a feeling she thought she had escaped but like so many other emotions, Dean brought them to the surface.

"I'll take you home." Mae's eyebrow quirked, nearly laughed. It was an odd Dean-style form of chivalry. Or maybe he was searching for some sort of control over everything, she thought. "I have my own car, Sparky." She could have sworn he looked disappointed. "Yeah. Maybe we could--"

"Dean I'm not sure what this is about but… it's been a long couple of days. I just want to take a shower and catch some real sleep, 'kay."

"Yeah but maybe--" It was Mae's frown more than her words that interrupted him this time.

"No maybes. You can't count on maybes." Dean chuckled a bit.

"Oh don't start. I swear to God, you and your nicknames." With a sigh, she shook her head. The neon pink of the motel sign set off her skin, hiding the paleness in the odd wash of color. "I'm going back to my motel for the night before I head out. We'll catch breakfast or something, yeah?"

* * *

Mae looked a lot better in the light of day. It could have been a full night's sleep in a real bed, the clean clothes, or the shower but she looked good. Better than good. "Skippin' out on me, Singer?" She should have guessed it wouldn't be that easy to just leave it all behind. "No rest for the wicked. You know that Winchester." "Yeah but… there's always breakfast." "I was always more of a dessert girl myself."

Dean knew the kind of girl she was, which was why he was up at the ass crack of dawn to make sure that she didn't leave without saying anything. He could have tracked her but he didn't want to have to do that. He want… well the list was long and confusing particularly to him. But he wanted her to make the choice; stay or go, whatever she picked he wanted her to examine the choices. Not just fall back into old ways.

He looked at her as if it were the last time he would ever see her. He was probably right. In the past 8 years, he had seen her twice. At least this parting was better than the last. He wasn't satisfied but he wasn't left with such bitterness this time. Dean knew he was asking for too much, wanting more. It was better this way. They weren't fighting and he was closer to forgiving her than he had been in a long time. Still, he wasn't particularly happy.

The woman packed and he tried to keep out of her way while coming up with a reason to make her stay, make her talk. "How's Bobby?"

She snorted. "You'd know better than I would." It wasn't a topic she wanted to talk about either but it was a little better than the previous one. She had made many promises a long time ago and didn't know which ones might win out if Dean kept asking.

The older man frowned. He had hoped something had changed in the last few years. "You're still not talking to him?"

"Don't have a reason to really." It wasn't rocket science to Dean. "He's your family, that's reason enough." She shivered and it was almost like a gust of cold air gave her enough pause to shut down any further conversation. "We don't need to get into this again, do we? I know you don't approve but clearly, I suck at this family thing." Dean didn't want her to go, every fiber of his being telling him not to let her. He didn't want to wait years to talk to her again. Things weren't better. Yet. They could work on it.

There wasn't anything left to do in the room. She was packed and ready to go but now Dean stood in her way Try as he might, his smile didn't reach his eyes as he took her bag from her. Even as she tried to let go, he placed his hand over hers. It was an impulse and perhaps one of the stupider ones he had recently. He pulled her forward and kissed her.

This one was sweet, not frantic or forced. Her body tensed and she didn't kiss him back. But she didn't pull away. Dean wasn't even sure he wanted her to kiss him back. It was almost romantic but held more of a familiar feeling to it. Mae cleared her throat after he pulled away. "What the hell was that?"

"I wanted… hell, I don't know what I wanted. I just… that other kiss left me with a bad feeling is all."

"This one was a bit better." The curve of her lips was small but genuine and he pale skin did nothing to help her hide the soft blush.

"Just a bit?" he asked, leaning in her space with more swagger this time.

"Yeah." Dean smiled when he saw it. It only lasted a moment, the mere seconds it took her to get out the one syllable word. Those storm colored eyes of hers softened and saw that girl he had fallen in love with so long ago. She was still there and he felt foolish for having doubted it.

It was a light and friendly gesture as he pushed her free hair out of her face. "Don't be a stranger, Maeby."

"You ever come back to a place you've hunted something without finding out that something's up? We finished the job. I won't be back here." The child was gone and the hunter was back but he smirked all the same.

"I didn't mean here. I mean… we don't have to go another 3 years without talking."

"Since when does Dean Winchester like talking?"

"I like talking to you."

"Dean…"

"Don't. Don't make excuses. Listen, if you don't want anything to do with me, just say so. But if you miss what we had, being friends then… then tell me that."

She was quiet.

"Second chances Mae. I'm willing to give it a try, what about you."

She shook her head, not in disagreement but in confusion. "You'd give me a second chance?"

Once again, it was crystal clear to him. "Yeah, wouldn't you give me one?"

She laughed nervously. "I don't know what you're expecting."

"Damnit Mae, as annoying as you are, I like you okay? I like being with you, I even like arguing with you. I… I want things to be like they were between us."

"Dean…"

"Don't answer okay? Just… I have your number, you have mine."

* * *

So… that's it! How was it? I love reviews. They make me do the happy dance so let me know what you think and if you liked this story, good news; there is a sequel! Stay tuned for Why Won't You Stay? and Waiting for a Coincidence.


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